Researchers have sent an open letter to the Sweden’s development minister Hillevi Engström asking why Sida, the government’s development agency, is funding an environmental organisation that they say supports the vandalism of research sites.
The Philippines-based organisation, Farmer-Scientist Partnership for Development (Masipag), which received about 700,000 kronor (€80,000) from Sida in 2013, has publicly supported an attack by farmers on the testing site of a vitamin A-enriched rice, called Golden Rice. The trials were conducted in August by the Philippine Department of Agriculture on behalf of the International Rice Research Institute, which also receives funding from Sida.
Masipag argues on its website that the commercialisation of Golden Rice will bring large profits to biotech companies such as Golden Rice owner Syngenta, while causing health and environmental problems for Filipino people.
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