This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
Soon a new organization will be established to help agriculturaldevelopment in Africa. The African Agricultural TechnologyFoundation will be set up in Nairobi, Kenya. It will startoperations in September, two-thousand-three.
The African Agricultural Technology Foundation is not designed tomake a profit. It represents an important kind of organizationinvolved in the worldwide trade of genetically changed crops.
The Rockefeller Foundation and the United States Agency forInternational Development are involved in the African AgriculturalTechnology Foundation. Several major agricultural companies alsowill support the effort. Monsanto, Dupont and Dow Agro SciencesL-L-C are American companies. Syngenta is a Swiss company that willalso take part.
The president of the Rockefeller Foundation announced theformation of the A-A-T-F in Washington, D-C in March. Gordon Conwaysaid the organization is an experiment. He said he hopes that theA-A-T-F will work with governments, companies, non-governmentorganizations and research centers. He said it will negotiatebetween those who own sales rights to agricultural technology andAfricans who want to use the technology.
Sales rights are an important issue for companies that developagricultural technology. Without enforcement of their sales rights,agricultural technology companies could not make a profit from theirproducts which are costly to develop.
Eugene Terry of Sierra Leone will be the director of the AfricanAgricultural Technology Foundation. He served as the directorgeneral of the West Africa Rice Development Association. He has alsoadvised the World Bank. Mister Terry said in a presentation that onegoal of the A-A-T-F is to support laws protecting sales rights. Healso said it should help bring new agricultural technologies tomarket.
Many countries do not have trade agreements with nations thatproduce products developed through new agricultural technologies.Countries like the United States and Switzerland develop many of thegenetically changed crops and the products used with them.Organizations like the A-A-T-F are meant to serve as a link betweenthese industrial nations and developing nations seeking improvedagricultural technology.
This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by MarioRitter.