Combattre Monsanto

The report details a global movement of peasants and civil society organizations resisting Monsanto's influence on agriculture. It highlights specific battles in Europe, India, Latin America, and Africa, where activists fight against GMO seeds, toxic pesticides like Roundup, and the corporate control of seed systems. The document argues that the 'green economy' and 'climate-smart agriculture' are market-driven frameworks that facilitate corporate land grabbing and the spread of biotechnology. It advocates for food sovereignty—the right of peoples to define their own food and production systems—as a sustainable path to mitigate climate change and ensure food security.

• Monsanto maintains a dominant position in the global seed market, controlling 27% of the commercial seed market and 90% of the soybean seed market.
• In India, the adoption of Bt cotton has been linked to a massive wave of farmer suicides, with over 250,000 deaths in 16 years, driven by a cycle of debt caused by high costs of GMO seeds and inputs.
• The report claims that GMO crops do not provide superior yields compared to conventional crops and that no 'miracle' GMO crop exists that can effectively tolerate drought, floods, or salt.
• In Brazil, the use of pesticides has increased significantly alongside GMO soy; by 2010, the National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) estimated that 28% of food consumed in Brazil contained dangerous levels of pesticide residues.
• The 'green economy' and 'climate-smart agriculture' (CSA) frameworks are criticized as market-based approaches that prioritize multinational corporations and may lead to land grabbing and the privatization of natural resources.
• The report argues that industrial agro-food systems are responsible for 44% to 57% of global greenhouse gas emissions, whereas peasant agriculture can reduce these emissions by up to 30% by reintegrating organic matter into the soil.
• There is a reported risk that the UNFCCC's REDD+ mechanism and other carbon offset projects could facilitate global land grabbing and the introduction of GMO trees or crops under the guise of climate mitigation.
• The report warns against geoengineering technologies, such as Solar Radiation Management (SRM) and Negative Emission Technologies (NETs), stating they pose unpredictable risks to complex ecosystems and may be used to protect corporate patents.

APA

Zacune, J. (2012). Combattre Monsanto. Friends of the Earth International. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Combattre-Monsanto.pdf

Chicago

Zacune, Joseph. Combattre Monsanto. Friends of the Earth International, 2012. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Combattre-Monsanto.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Zacune |first1=Joseph |title=Combattre Monsanto |publisher=Friends of the Earth International |date=March 2012 |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Combattre-Monsanto.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{zacune2012combattre, author = {Zacune, Joseph}, title = {{Combattre Monsanto}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2012}, month = mar, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Combattre-Monsanto.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }