Tournament of Champions 2k8 Comprehensive Caselist

POLITICS

We’ve read LOST Good, LOST Bad, Colombia Free Trade Good, and India Deal Good

The United States federal government should increase agricultural biosafety assistance to the government of Kenya.

observation one: inherency

U.S. has tripled its public health assistance to Africa and will inevitably expand its military presence

Bates Gill, Chin-hao Huang, and J. Stephen Morrison 1/07 (Freeman Chair in China Studies at CSIS, Researcher with Freeman Chair, Executive Director, HIV/AIDS Task Force and Director, Africa Program, “China’s Expanding Role in Africa and Implications for the United States,” Center for Internatinal and Strategic Studies, http://forums.csis.org/africa/?m=200701)

the us is aggressively increasing its oil trade with africa 

http://www.ncseonline.org/NLE/CRSreports/07Jun/RL34003.pdf

kenya biotechnology is inevitable but it’s not adopting effective biosafety laws—the plan is crucial to create comprehensive biosafety guidelines—this will be modeled by the rest of africa

http://www.scidev.net/dossiers/index.cfm?fuseaction=dossierReadItem&type=3&itemid=623&language=1&dossier=6

kenya lacks a comprehensive policy governing the development of biotech

http://www.acts.or.ke/pubs/reports/Trainee-Anyango.doc

usaid’s biotech strategy is currently insufficient—the us needs to help train african bio-scientists to create sustainable success

http://www.africabiotech.com/pdf/Crop-Biotechnology-and-the-African-Farmer.pdf

observation two: kenyan biodiversity

kenya relies on unsustainable slash and burn agriculture to feed its population—this will collapse biodiversity

http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/220499/Features/XX3.html

loss of kenyan biodiversity through overuse of land causes worldwide extinction

(Kenya: The Quest for Prosperity) 

The ODA study warns:Everywhere

biotech key to restoring biodiversity—it’s the only way to avoid excessive land use

http://www.botanischergarten.ch/EFB/UNESCO-Biodiv-Biotech-Final.pdf

prefer our evidence—overwhelming majority of experts conclude that with regulatory action, biotech will have a positive effect on biodiversity

http://www.syngentafoundation.org/green_biotechnology.htm

confluence of experts agree that gmos are safe—there has not been a single case of illness or environmental destruction b/c of regulatory action 

observation three: mass starvation

Sub-Saharan Africa faces the most severe food shortages in the world – access to biotechnology is critical to resolve this

land pressure is exacerbating soil erosion in kenya and the rest of africa—causes massive crop decreases

http://www.forests.org/archive/africa/soerthre.htm

this makes global war inevitable—food shortages are the root cause of international violence

http://www.iht.com/articles/1999/06/17/edcarter.2.t.php

impact is extinction

http://www.ianr.unl.edu/ianr/csas/v6ch8.htm

kenya biotech development spillsover throughout africa

http://www.isaaa.org/Resources/Publications/about_isaaa/Annual_report96/Annual_report96_5.htm

Success in sub-Saharan Africa will be modeled internationally

http://www.scidev.net/dossiers/index.cfm?fuseaction=specifictopics&dossier=6&topic=189

smooth transition to biotechnology is the only way to avert mass starvation in africa

Chassey, Associate Director of The Biotch Center @ the Univ of Illinois, 3

biotechnology prevents soil erosion—reduces tillage and pesticide use

(Journal of Agrobiotech Management & Economics Vol.2 No.3/4 Article. 4)

observation four: monoculture

genetic diversity in agriculture is collapsing—only effective utilization of biotechnology can avert monoculture

(The Last Harvest: The Genetic Gamble that Threatens to Destroy American Agriculture)

By focusing on a handful of the very best varieties