ref: Monsanto_l.letter_Easum.DOC

Subject: Monsanto and Biotech for Agriculture

Dear xxxxxxxx,

[...] I want [] to invite you to join other developing country leaders

in endorsing Monsanto company's attached statement, LET THE HARVEST

BEGIN. Monsanto plans to publish the statement, with the names and

titles of its signers, in major European newspapers in early June.

[...]

As Vice President of Global Business Access, a continuing company

devoted to assisting U.S. trade and investment in Africa, I and

several of my colleagues have been engaged by Monsanto company to

assist them in publicising the company's efforts to promote the role

of biotechnology in increasing the food supply and protecting the

environment in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Central Europe.

Our deadline for submitting endorsements of the Monsanto statement is

Monday, June 1 [...] The statement has already been signed by such African

leaders as Babacar N'Diaye (former Director of the African Development Bank),

Dr Adebayo Adediji (foprmer Executive Director of the UN Economic

Commission for Africa), Dr Esther Ocloo of Ghana, Dr George Benneh

(former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana and Cabinet Minister),

Dr Abdoulaye Conteh (former Minister of Foreign Affairs and of Justice of

Sierra Leone) - and we are in contact with ex-President Masire, Graca Machel,

Chief Bisi Ogunleye of Nigeria, Julius Nyerere, Eritrean President Isias Afwerki,

Eritrean Agriculture Minister Arefine Berhe and President Museveni's office in

Kampala. In addition I have sent the statement to Dr Thomas Odhiambo who

has expressed interest in endorsing.

In the event the rationale of the statement appeals to you and you

believe it worthy of your support, we invite you to sign the enclosed

endorsement form and fax it as indicated to our Global office in

Washington D.C. (Also enclosed is a Monsanto fact sheet on the Green

Revolution and its relationship to expanded food needs of increasing

populations.

[...]

Sincerely yours

Donald B. Easum

Vice President, GLobal Business Access Ltd.

Ambassador (ret.) US Foreign Service

__________________________________________________________

Within the context of a burgeoning global population lies the most

significant challenge facing political leaders and agricultural

producers throughout the world: utilising existing limited resources

to feed people while grappling with the continued diminution of

arable land.

* More than 80 percent of the population of the developing world now

have access to adequate diets compared with only 64 per cent in the

1970s. The number of undernourished has fallen from over 940 million

in the 1970s to around 800 million today.

* More than 840 million people in developing countries - 20 percent

of the combined population - are without access to enough food to

meet their basic daily needs for nutritional well-being.

Disproportionately, this population is made up of women and over 200

million children, with approximately 18 million children dying

annually of starvation.

* The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO)

estimates that due to the "Green Revolution", per capita food

supplies in the developing world rose from 1,900 calories per day in

the early 1960s to 2,500 calories in the early 1990s, even though

global population doubled during this period.

* In 1950, the world produced 692 million tons of grain for 2.2

billion people; by 1992 production was 1.9 billion tons for 5.6

billion people - 2.8 times the population. The 692 tons of grain

produced in 1950 came from 1.7 billion acres of cropland. The 1992

output of 1.9 billion tons came from 1.73 billion acres - a 170

percent increase in production from one percent more land.

* While more than 500,000 edible plants and a wealth of animal

products are used for food around the workd, only 15 crop plants

provide 90 percent of the globe's food energy intake.

* During the 1990s, the world's 1 billion farmers produced cereals,

meat, and other food products that provided the globe's population

with the equivalent of 7.5 quadrillion kilocalories annually - if

distributed equally that is enough for about 3,800 calories per

person per day, well over the minimum daily calorie requirement.

* Crop productivity now appears to be slowing - falling below the

Green Revolution levels, examples include:

- Wheat yields up 1.4 percent, more slowly than population in many

areas, and down from 3.3 percent annually in the ealry 1980s;

- Rice yields at 1.1 percent annually, less than one-half the rate of

the early 1980s:

- Both coarse grain and oilseed yeilds could grow faster than

population in many areas - 1.7 percent and 1.5 percent respectively -

but even for these crops, the rates expected would provide little

margin for shortfalls, whether weather related or from other causes.

* In the 1990s, world grain and oilseed production and use came into

much closer balance than at any time in recent years. The huge grain

stockpiles of the mid-1980s are gone, and by the mid-1990s,

consumption had exceeded production for seven of the past 12 years.

* In the 66 developing countries where 2.3 billion people live, and

where current food supplies are inadequate, productivity growth is

barely 2 per cent annually (just slightly faster than population

growth), constrained by lack of inputs, lack of crop protection

products, poor management and numerous other problems.

* For the immediate future - the next quarter of a century - some 800

million people will be added each decade. Food production must grow

1.4 percent to 1.6 percent annually, just to maintain the status quo.

__________________________________________________________

Across the vast farms of Europe and the United States, crops grow

plentifully, providing an over-abundance of food. But in other parts

of our world, hunger still confronts the population every day.

Finding new ways to meet our global need for food, while maintaining

ecological balance, might be the greatest challenge we face in the

next century.

We all share the same planet - and the same needs. In agriculture,

many of our needs have an ally in biotechnology and the promising

advances it offers for our future. Healthier, more abundant food.

Less expensive crops. Reduced reliance on pesticides and fossil

fuels. A cleaner environment. With these advances, we prosper;

without them. we cannot thrive.

As we stand on the edge of a new millenium, we dream of a tomorrow

without hunger. To achieve that dream, we must welcome the science

that promises hope. We know advances biotechnology must be tested and

safe, but they should not be unduly delayed. Biotechnology is one of

tomorrow's tools in our hands today. Slowing its acceptance is a

luxury our hungry world cannot afford.

To feed the world in the next century, we need food that is more

plentiful and more affordable than it is today. With more

productivity needed from less tillable land, we need new ways to

yield more from what is left - after development and erosion take

their toll. To strengthen our economies, we need to grow our own food

as independently as we can. Agricultural biotechnology will play a

major role in realising the hope we all share. Accepting this science

can make a dramatic difference in millions of lives.

The seeds of the future are planted. Allow them to grow. Then let the

harvest begin. Because securing food for our future begins a better

life for us all.

Signer Signer Signer Signer Signer

A message from some of the world's most respected voices, made

possible by some of the world's most respected companies, including

Monsanto, -----------, -----------, ------------, committed to

finding better ways to feed the world's people.