Global Farmers’ Exchange 2010Report

Brussels, London and Paris25-29 October 2010

Aims of the global farmer exchange

• To demonstrate the benefits of GM crops for farmers around the world to European policymakers and other stakeholders

• To make a positive impact on European policymakers’ perceptions of GM crops, including Member State politicians

• To build new bridges with European policymakers and stakeholders (farmers groups, people interested in development)

• To continue to build relationships with media• To develop collaterals (photos, video) that will help us

communicate with the public & policymakers – including online (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter) and print (posters, brochures)

The farmers

Ivo M. Carraro, Agronomist, Brazil

Carlos Zuquetto, GM soy/maize, Brazil

Erostus Wilberforce Njuki, GM bananas, Uganda

Rosalie Ellasus, GM maize, the Philippines,

Karim Traoré, Bt cotton, Burkina Faso

Maotang Zu, Bt cotton, China

Date Activity

Monday, 25 October

Introductory session at EuropaBio • Overview of GMOs in Europe – Nathalie Moll, Carel du Marchie Sarvaas, Filip Cnudde• Individual farmer presentations• Media and video/photo introduction

Afternoon meeting programme (See meetings report for details)• Ms. Rosalie Ellasus: assistants to MEP Sirpa Pietikäinen (EPP); Marcela Kroutilová of the Permanent Representation of Czech Republic; Daniel Gether of the Permanent Representation of Hungary• Mr. Maotang Zu: Zoltán Somogyi, Commission, DG Trade; Mathilda Åberg, Perm. Rep. of Sweden• Mr. Carlos Zuquetto: Frits Thissen, Perm. Rep. of the Netherlands; Mr. Ferreira and Mr. Silva, Embassy of Brazil• Mr. Ivo Marcos Carraro: Thomas Bregeon & collegues, Commission, DG SANCO; Mr. Ferreira and Mr. Silva, Embassy of Brazil• Mr. Erostus Wilberforce Njuki: With Ambassador of Uganda -Frits Thissen, Perm. Rep. of the Netherlands; Timothy Hall, Head of Unit, Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries and Aquaculture Research and Philippe Petithuguenin, Sebastien Crepieux • Mr. Karim Traoré: David Radcliffe & colleagues, Commission, DG Development; Leonard Mizzi, Commission DG AgricultureEvening: Walking tour/Dinner in Brussels

Overview of programme – Brussels, Day 1

Overview of programme – Brussels, Day 2Date Activity

Tuesday, 26 October

Morning meeting programme

• Ms. Rosalie Ellasus: Frederik Lamberty, Permanent Representation of Belgium to the EU; Pit Laquian, Cultural Attaché, The Philippines embassy • Mr. Carlos Zuquetto, Erostus Wilberforce Njuki, and Mr. Maotang Zu: European Parliament, MEP Marit Paulsen and MEP Brita Reimers• Mr. Ivo Marcos Carraro and Karim Traoré: Pekka Pesonen, Copa-CogecaPhotography session with each farmer

‘Sustainable Solutions for Food Security’ event – Martin’s Central Park Hotel

• Speakers: Roberto Ridolfi (European Commission, Europe Aid), Dr. Justus Wesseler (Associate Professor at Wageningen University), Rosalie Ellasus, Ivo Marcos Carraro, Maya Moro-Coco (Policy Officer, ActionAid)

• Moderator: Ms. Jacki Davis

• Attendance: Around 50 people from a wide range of stakeholder organisations, the European Commission, Permanent Representations, scientists and media (See list)

• Visual materials: Professional photography and video of the event

• Written materials: Event report and press release, distributed to 100+ journalists (the top 50 journalists were also contacted by phone to confirm attendance)Evening: Attendance at European Parliament event hosted by Sir Ben Gill: 'Food, Water and Energy: Balancing increasingly scarce resources against growing demand’

• The overall organisation of the programme was excellent. Everything ran smoothly, and the farmers were very busy communicating their experiences!

• The meeting programme and event allowed the farmers to tell stories of GM success that Europeans rarely hear.

• At the event, GM crops were discussed and debated – but not in a polarising way.

• We made new links with people and organisations at the Brussels event, and it allowed us to reach out to media pro-actively.

• By videotaping the event and individual videos with the farmers (to be edited and uploaded to YouTube), and by taking professional and ordinary photos (all uploaded to Picasa – though not available to public), we will be able to communicate about the benefits of GM crops – both online and in print publications.

Successes

Agra-Europe publishes

an article on the event

We publish some of the farmer photos on Facebook

with short bios:

FGV publishes our event report, which was also sent to 75+ journalists

…Then we tweet about it and get positive feedback:

SeedQuest publishes our press release

• This visit required an intense amount of preparation and work from everyone involved.

• There was the challenge of linking the visit to the hot topics in Brussels at the moment, especially without news on GM announced at the EU level that week.

• The Tuesday evening event at the Parliament did not have as many other attendees as expected.

• Finding interpreters was a challenge, as were UK visas. One farmer (South Africa) was unable to acquire a visa for UK or Belgium, despite multiple visits to his consulate.

Challenges

Overview of programme – London

• The overall organisation of the programme was excellent.

Successes

Overview of programme – Paris

• The overall organisation of the programme was excellent.

Successes