Table Of ContentAfrican Traditional Herbal Research Clinic
Volume 7 Isue 6 NEWSLETER May 2012
TRADITIONAL AGRICULTURE
Support Farmers to Save What is the African Traditional
their Indigenous Seeds from Herbal Research Clinic?
We can make you healthy and wise
GMOs
Nakato Lewis
By Richard Mugisha Blackherbals at the Source of the Nile, UG Ltd.
February 3, 2012
The Monitor The African Traditional Herbal Research Clinic located
in Ntinda, Uganda is a modern clinic facility
Food is a basic human right and people’s recognition,
established to create a model space whereby
protection and realisation of this right is very critical. As
indigenous herbal practitioners and healers can upgrade
stakeholders look for solutions to the current food crisis,
and update their skills through training and certification
there is need to keep in mind the voices of those who are
and respond to common diseases using African healing
at the centre of, and charged with growing and producing
methods and traditions in a modern clinical
this food-the farmers. Traditional food crops/plants have environment.
always ensured food security at the household level, and
contributed to people’s livelihoods. Traditional healers are the major health labor resource
in Africa as a whole. In Uganda, indigenous traditional
I am concerned that genetic engineering of crops is being
healers are the only source of health services for the
presented as the best and only alternative method of
majority of the population. An estimated 80% of the
resolving the food crisis in Africa and particularly in population receives its health education and health care
Uganda, ignoring indigenous and sustainable systems of from practitioners of traditional medicine. They are
food production that are best known, affordable and knowledgeable of the culture, the local languages and
controlled by the local people.
local traditions. Our purpose is to raise public
Currently, Uganda is one of five African countries awareness and understanding on the value of African
promoting GMOs. The other countries include Kenya, traditional herbal medicine and other healing practices
Tanzania, Mozambique and South Africa. It is in today’s world.
Continued on page 2
The Clinic is open and operational. Some of the
I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E services we offer are African herbal medicine,
reflexology, acupressure, hot and cold hydrotherapy,
3 African Spirituality – Traditional Agriculture
4 Feature – Industrial Agriculture and Biotechnology body massage, herbal tonics, patient counseling, blood
6 Feature –Is Monsanto’s Glyphosate Destroying the Soil? pressure checks, urine testing (sugar), and nutritional
8 Feature – Cancer in Africa” Fighting a Nameless Enemy profiles. We believe in spirit, mind and body. Spiritual
11 Pesticide Firms must be Held to Account for Bee Poisoning
counseling upon request.
15 Human Genes engineered in Experimental GMO Rice
17 GMO Crops require more Pesticides-Create Resistant Insects Visit us also at www.Blackherbals.com
18 Feature – Land, Life and Justice
29 Batwa Striving to cope with Life outside the Forest Hours: 10:00 am to 6:00 pm Monday thru Friday
24 Featured – Indigenous Science and Traditional Knowledge Saturday by Appointment, Sundays – Closed
38 Feat’d – Researching African Indigenous Fruits & Vegetables
47 Malewa, The Traditional Gishu Treat
48 Feature - Portal Arrives to Cement British Imperial Agenda
61 Feature – Farm Pesticides linked to Deadly Skin Cancer
64 Prostate Cancer as an Environmental Disease
67 Feature – Are Pesticides Causing Parkinson Disease
72 Pesticides and Breast Cancer Risk
74 Feature–Africa: Benefits of Organic Agriculture - Continent
77 Ecological Understanding of Insects in Organic Farming
87 Know Thyself
88 Herbs of the Month – Prunus Africana & More
-1- Traditional African Clinic – May 2012
C ont’d from page 1 – Support Farmers to Save their seeds to protect agricultural biodiversity for the future
Indigenous Seed from GMO
generation. This is very important because farmers need
u nfortunate that the Government of Uganda seems to be seeds that are suitable for their local ecosystems, taste and
fully embracing the introduction of genetically modified climate.
c rops in Uganda without adequate sensitisation of its Through the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic
citizens on the existing implications and risks to the Development, government should increase the budgetary
agricultural sector. allocation to agriculture to 10 per cent as stipulated in the
Biotechnology has for decades been used in activities Maputo Declaration and exploit the possibility of
s uch as fermentation and preservation of food, baking establishing an agricultural bank that will explicitly focus
a nd brewing beer. While I appreciate the new on farmers’ credit needs and hedge against risks like crop
t echnologies being generated by research, farmers face failures.
f ar more challenges that, if solved, can help improve Mr Mugisha is a campaign and advocacy officer- PELUM
f ood security in the country. Such problems include the Uganda
c offee wilt, banana bacterial wilt and the cassava brown http://www.monitor.co.ug/artsculture/Reviews/-
s treak disease. /691232/1370494/-/cqqfm/-/index.html
☻☻☻☻☻☻
Y es, Uganda has a National Biosafety Policy (2008) in
p lace and is also in the process of formulating a law to
Let Us Preserve our Local
o fficially introduce GMOs in the country. Surprisingly,
t he absence of the biosafety law has not stopped Crop Varieties
laboratory and field testing for GMO crops such as GM
bananas in Kawanda, BT cotton in Serere, GM maize in
Kasese (under Water Efficient Maize for Africa -
WEMA project), and cassava, rice and sweet potatoes at
N amulonge research institute.
Government and some scientists argue that GMOs are
the way to go to eradicate hunger in Uganda, reasoning
that GMOs are drought-resistant, have high water
retention qualities and are fast growing thus would
increase food production for the growing population,
reduce agricultural chemical and pesticide use, resulting
in increased yields and enhanced or better nutrition.
Ugandans should note that introduction of GMOs is Members of Cotefone Slow Food Community in Lwengo District
likely to quicken the distortion of Uganda’s rich pick up their tools at the launch of their garden. PHOTO BY
biodiversity and cause farmers to be dependent on MICHAEL J. SSALI
external inputs for their livelihoods. Traditional farmers’
By Michael J. Ssali
practices of saving and multiplying indigenous seeds
will also suffer extinction, forcing farmers to buy fresh March 21, 2012
supply of seeds for every planting season from the
On March 10 2012, I listened attentively to Mr Edward
private sector.
Mukiibi, the National Coordinator of Slow Food in
Basing on what has happened to small-scale farmers Uganda, as he elaborated to a group of farmers not far
living in countries where GMOs have been adopted, from my home, at Lukindu Village, Kisekka Sub-county,
Ugandan small-scale farmers will have to sign licensing Lwengo District, the difference between food security and
agreements with stipulations that ban re-use, re-sell, food sovereignty.
saving, supplying or transfer of seeds to any person
“Many leaders today put a lot of emphasis on food
because seeds will be patented. In this way,
security in our homes,” he said. “But food security in our
multinational companies will have absolute monopoly
homes alone is not what they should really advocate. If a
over production and distribution of seeds thereby
man has bags of rice and beans in his house, such a home
undermining and compromising Uganda’s food
may be described as food secure. But he could have stolen
sovereignty.
the rice and the beans! Certainly, thieves are bad for the
I therefore recommend that government should be seen food security campaign since they actually contribute to
to strongly support farmers to save their indigenous food insecurity. Continued on page 10
-2- Traditional African Clinic – May 2012
AFRIKAN SPIRITUALITY
TRADITIONAL AGRICULTURE
Mugambe & Nakuya
Walussi Mountain
T raditional Agriculture is a system where people practice
farming planting their own indigenous crops and animals. It
The traditional shrine as a symbol of our cultural history
is very important for people to practice agriculture
traditionally for some reasons below:
1. Some crops are planted according to the traditional and
Our fore fathers used to tell us that a pumpkin plant
cultural norms of the people and if those norms are not
has to be planted late in the evening. Reason, to
properly followed, it can lead to low production if not no
stop it from growing wide. It means you have
production at all.
blinded it from growing wide, since they were
2. Traditional agriculture helps people to keep food for longer usually planted mostly in banana plantation fields.
pe riod than expected when it's still fresh compared to other You sit down for a while. Being planted late means
m easures. it has no chance of setting off anywhere. A
pumpkin plant is a female plant. The purpose for
3. If people do traditional agriculture, it can help to prevent
sitting down is a spiritual command, taming it grow
th e problem of artificial fertilizers as most of the crops don't
in one place or a smaller area but with lots of plants.
ne cessarily need such. It is only after the introduction of the
Spiritually it is a spiritual sign on women telling
so called modified crops which can't withstand harsh weather
them not to move all over without bearing fruits but
and other conditions, phasing away the crops which could
to sit down in one place or in one marriage and bear
withstand harsh weather.
fruits, children inclusive.
M ost people think that traditional agriculture is done
It is not normal to plant a banana plantation without
pr imitively. They are wrong. Traditional agriculture is being
representation of both sexes, (male and female
do ne and practiced using our own scientific measures. People
banana plant). All these and so many others have
think that our fore fathers were not informed and lacked
spiritual meanings and purpose as to why God had a
information about modern agriculture. It is we who failed to
reason why He wants us to practice them for our
upgrade from where we found our fore fathers. We decided to
own good. When we fail to fulfill them we turn to
im port other measures which have failed us because they
pesticides.
do n't match our ways, and most importantly the weather.
Traditional agriculture saves land as more than
Take for example in the Ganda culture a banana plantation
three crops can be planted together. Traditional
has its way of being planted from the first time the banana
agriculture can be a solution to today and future
tree was ever planted. Everyone knew all the measures to
problems of our society.
m ake it to last for more than 20 years both spiritually and
sc ientifically. The same is true for yams, sweet potatoes, Traditional agriculture in African spirituality means
ca ssava and others. it is the only way we can fights pests and we have
been planting crops for some time which means we
Traditional agriculture in relation to African spirituality
have taken time to learn how to fight pests. There
means a lot. Had we practiced farming traditionally, the need
is a spiritual revelation that comes (not necessarily
fo r artificial fertilizers would not be there because today what
dreaming about something or having a vision) but a
pe ople take to be pests are not pests; it’s our failure to farm
spiritual understanding of saying "if I try this it can
ac cording to our norms.
help me in this situation, for example, before
Some foods are not eaten or served together for example, pesticides, people used to sprinkle ash on sweet
there a banana plant called "muziro nyama," meaning it's not potato plants to kill off caterpillars. The
se rved with beef or it will do you harm in the long run. introduction of pesticides put our spiritual minds at
rest [to sleep], and we stopped thinking about it
--------------------------
spiritually.
Managing Editor: Nakato Lewis
PUBLISHER: KIWANUKA LEWIS Mugambe & Nakuya are Kabonas (Spiritualists) at
Published monthly and freely by BHSN for the ATHR Clinic
Walussi Mountain
☻☻☻☻☻☻
-3- Traditional African Clinic – May 2012
African Traditional Herbal Research Clinic
Volume 7, Isue 6 NEWSLETER May 2012
FEATURED ARTICLES
"Industrialized Agriculture and Biotechnology:
Threats to Sustainable Agriculture
By Chee Yoke Ling
Third World Network, Malaysia, May 2003
Sustainable agriculture, food security and food safety and poverty eradication in rural areas.
are more urgent goals than ever as we enter the new
Economic and technological strategies in the
millennium.
agricultural sector promoted by large donors and
In the developing countries the agricultural sector has implementing agencies tend to be based upon a
multiple roles: to help ensure food security, anchor rural neoliberal development model which believes the
development, provide resources for the livelihood and integration of small farmers into the global
adequate incomes of a majority of people, and to do this agricultural market is the best strategy for their
without destroying the ecological base. There are thus human development. This macro-economic model
two inextricably linked components, social and environ- disregards both the physical and biological
mental to agricultural sustainability. boundaries of agro-ecosystems and the ecological
quality of the human environment in general, as well
In the industrialized countries, the structural flaws of
as other aspects of human development such as
the industrial food production system are rapidly
emerging. education and health services in rural areas.
Industrial agriculture, coupled with the impetus of
Over the past two years alone, the European public has
international trade and consumption patterns that
confronted the health and environmental hazards of
strain the planet’s natural resources, has also
such a production system, both in crops and animal hus-
destabilized the social and cultural fabric of farming
bandry. At the same time, increasing evidence of
ecological and health dangers from genetic communities.
manipulation through modern biotechnologies is The impact has been even more dramatic for
galvanizing deep public and scientific concern, starting Southern societies, particularly for indigenous
in Europe, and spreading to Africa, Asia, Latin America peoples. In many societies, women who had critical
and in recent months to North America, which is the roles in farm decision making and the conservation of
largest producer of genetically modified crops. seeds, found themselves displaced when commercial
Meanwhile, the ecological, social, health and economic monocultures were introduced. Moreover, women
and children tend to be the main victims of the
fallout of chemical-based agriculture continues to
1 malnutrition such mono-cultures have failed to solve,
unfold despite the acknowledgement in Agenda 21 by
and even contributed to.
the world’s political leaders that such production
systems were proving to be environ-mentally Thus the problem of agricultural production cannot
unsustainable. be regarded only as a technological one; attention to
social, cultural, political and economic issues that
This crisis of industrial agriculture is not accidental. It
account for the crisis is crucial. This is particularly
is the systematic result of more than 40 years of the
true today where the economic and political
prevalent socio-economic system that promotes domination of the rural development agenda in both
monocultures and the use of high-input technologies the global North as well as the South by certain large
and agricultural practices. The underlying cause is the
agribusiness corporations and large donors and
predominance of agricultural policies based on
implementing agencies has thrived at the expense of
production targets rather than an integrated approach
the interests of farm workers, small family farms,
towards sustainable livelihoods, human development
Continued on page 5
-4- Traditional African Clinic – May 2012
Continued from page 4 – Industrialized Agriculture and that are surviving the onslaught of globalization of
Biotechnology: Threats to Sustainable Agriculture industrial agriculture. There is a significant increase in
the North of organic/ecological farming reaching
rural communities, the general public, wildlife and the
2 commercial scales that build on practices that had been
environment.
abandoned when monocultures and chemicals took over.
Unfortunately, even as one chapter of Agenda 21
As scientific understanding about the holistic imperative
acknowledged the unsustainability of chemical
of agriculture becomes more interdisciplinary itself, there
agriculture and the limits of the Green Revolution, the
will be a mainstreaming of sustainable agriculture into
same corporate interests that championed and benefited
national and international policies on agriculture. The
from the first “revolution” aggressively promoted the
issue is not technique or experience, or even economic
“Gene Revolution” as the panacea. Hence the fulsome
viability, but rather the vested interests and
promises of the biotechnology chapter in Agenda 21.
policy/institutional obstacles set up by current trends of
However, the new biotechnologies that involve genetic
globalization.
engineering or modification are among the most serious
Therefore, the protection of, and in many cases the
threats to sustainable agriculture and the future of
transition to, sustainable agriculture systems can only
farming communities, especially traditional farmers and
take place if the underlying obstacles are overcome, and
indigenous peoples. The Commission on Sustainable
policies are re-directed to addressing poverty eradication
Development in its third session called for a more
and malnutrition itself. This requires the reshaping of the
balanced assessment of the new biotechnologies, in light
entire agricultural policy and food system, and a
of new scientific evidence of hazards. Since then the case
3 realignment of the power relations which currently favor
against these technologies has strengthened.
transnational corporations, supported by a few key
Fortunately, civil society’s increasing access to
governments. Given the extent of globalization, priority
information and awareness, accompanied by a growing
must necessarily be given to international actions so that
public scientific debate in the past year, provides a
sustainable alternatives on the ground can be
valuable opportunity for preventive actions before these
strengthened and spread.
technologies are diffused throughout the world. For
A more radical transformation of agriculture is needed,
example, the public condemnation in a number of
one guided by the notion that ecological change in
countries of Monsanto’s “Terminator Technology” which
agriculture cannot be promoted without changing the
was designed to suppress the reproductive ability of
strategic goals in agriculture and comparable changes in
seeds, led to bans by some governments and eventually to
the social, political, cultural, and economic arenas that
a withdrawal by Monsanto of commercialization plans, at
also constrain agriculture. Change toward a more socially
least for the time being.
just, economically viable, and environmentally sound
The two-year de facto moratorium on commercial
agriculture will be the result of social movements in the
planting of transgenic crops in the European Union is 4
rural sector in alliance with urban organizations.
also a vital development, and public debates on this
Chee Yoke Ling is a lawyer trained in international law,
option for the future of agriculture is mounting all over
environment and development issues, working with local
the world The lessons from the chemical era, and
communities. This article was taken from a paper,
especially the Green Revolution, remind us that long term
Choices in Agricultural Production Techniques,
sustainability can only be achieved through a
Consumption Patterns and Safety Regulations: Potentials
comprehensive ecological, social and economic
and Threats to Sustainable Agriculture, prepared by
assessment of sustainable livelihoods, poverty eradication
Chee Yoke Ling, Third World Network., Sustainable
and human development in rural areas, and the
Agriculture Dialogue Paper 1, 1/20/00, United Nations
production systems which serve these goals. Otherwise,
Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) 8, April
any short term increase in yields will soon be offset by
2000. http://csdngo.igc.org/agriculture/agr_dia_Paper1.htm
environmental, health and social costs, which eventually
lead to a total net loss. Caution is even more urgent where
Notes
new technologies can cause irreparable damage to the
1 Agenda 21 is “a comprehensive plan of action to be taken
ecosystem and human health, and the benefits have yet to
globally, nationally and locally by organizations of the United
be fully assessed against the hazards and risks.
Nations System, governments, and major groups in every area
There is already a rich spectrum of technologies and in which human impacts on the environment.” Agenda 21was
adopted by more than 178 Governments at the United Nations
practices, even entire systems of sustainable agriculture,
Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held
alive and flourishing all over the world. Many are
in Rio de Janerio, Brazil, June 1992. Continued on page 10
traditional or indigenous systems, especially in the South,
-5- Traditional African Clinic – May 2012
African Traditional Herbal Research Clinic
Volume 7, Isue 6 NEWSLETER May 2012
FEATURED ARTICLES
Un-Earthed: Is Monsanto's Glyphosate
Destroying The Soil?
BY Sayer Yi
March 3, 2012
contamination of our food, air, rain and groundwater
"The nation that destroys its soil, destroys itself.”
with this now ubiquitous chemical.
Ever since Monsanto developed, marketed and patented
the glyphosate molecule -- Roundup (®) herbicide’s
active ingredient -- beginning in the early 70’s, a
substantial and ever-growing portion of the earth’s
arable surface has been transformed into an
environmental and human health experiment, of
unprecedented scale. Non-industry funded human
research on glyphosate exposure is only now being
performed, and the preliminary picture being painted
isn't very pretty. Recent experimental research found
that exceedingly small concentrations of glyphosate
(450-fold lower than used in agricultural
applications) induce DNA damage in human cells.
Given these findings, it is likely that the widespread
adoption of GM agriculture has and will continue to
result in massive collateral health damage; the fall-out
of which we are only beginning to understand, and
--- Franklin Delano Roosevelt yet which we are all no doubt are already
experiencing, mostly subclinically.
In light of this quote, had Monsanto been around during
Roosevelt’s time, he would not have taken too kindly to Roundup Ready (®) (glyphosate resistant) genetically
their business strategy. After all, in 2007, 176 million modified (GM) plants (also created by Monsanto) now
glblsy phoof saaten, 1 feixrstrte mcrelayt edt obxyic Mhoenrsbainctiod,e wkasn oswprna yeads cthoen stmituatrek e7t0 %to odfa yal.2l geTnheitsi cahlalys mroedqiufireedd f otohde pluasnets oonf
onto the soil (and everything standing between it) in increasingly larger quantities of glyphosate-based
this country, with untold environmental and human herbicides in the regions where these plants are
health fallout. Untold, that is, until now... cultivated, making human exposures inevitable, and now
simply a question of to what degree. Despite
Roundup (Glyphosate): The Science Vs. Marketing manufacturers' claims, pest resistance to GM crops and
2011 was a watershed year, as far as scientific commonly used herbicides, are becoming a serious
revelations into the nature and extent of the damage problem, and companies like Dow Agrosciences are
associated with glyphosate-based herbicide usage and seizing the opportunity with newly created GM crops
exposure is concerned. An accumulating body of peer- that are 'three herbicide" resistant, requiring the future
reviewed and published research now indicates use of even more toxic combinations and greater
glyphosate may be contributing to several dozen quantities of herbicides in America's farmlands,
adverse health effects in exposed populations. And as including 2,4 D, a chemical once used in Agent Orange.
we shall see, human exposure is as universal as is the Continued on page 7
-6- Traditional African Clinic – May 2012
C ontinued from page 6 – Un-Earthed: Is Monsanto's during this process of GM farming. It takes
G lyphosate Destroying The Soil? approximately 1,000 years for the earth to produce (on its
own) a 2.5 inch thick layer of fertile soil. And yet, it may
take only a single application of Roundup to irreversibly
alter the microbial populations within the soil -- much in
the same way that a single round of antibiotics may
seriously and irreversibly alter your gut flora for the rest
of your life.
New Research: Roundup Destroying Beneficial Soil &
Food Organisms
New research published in the journal Current
Microbiology indicates that Roundup herbicide (®) is
having a negative impact on the microbiodiversity of the
soil, including microorganisms of food interest, and
specifically those found in raw and fermented foods.
Glyphosate is now contaminating groundwater in vast
Microbiodiversity is essential for the global health of our
s ubterranean stretches in areas directly and indirectly
planet. The metabolic activity of microorganisms
e xposed to the application of this agrichemical; a finding
participate quite literally “at the root” of the nitrogen,
t hat runs contrary to manufacturer’s claims that
g lyphosate is readily "biodegradable" and even “makes phosphate, oxygen and carbon cycles, and are therefore
indispensable for the health of the entire biosphere. They
the soil cleaner," which it does not. Moreover, one 2011
are also the most numerous inhabitants in the web of life.
study found glyphosate in 60-100% of all US air and
rain samples tested, indicating that glyphosate pollution
There are an estimated 6 x 10 to the 30th power
and exposure is now omnipresent in the regions within
(6000000000000000000000000000000) bacterial cells
which it is applied.
on the planet, and soil microrganisms represent about
50% of the total biodiversity in terms of numbers of
It is one thing to know that when you consume GM food,
species. Soil organisms include fungi, and the mycellium
you are ingesting glyphosate residues (and secondary
which is technically the largest organism in the world,
chemical metabolites) -- at least, as a consumer you
and have a special importance to the health of this planet.
always have a choice (economics permitting) of buying
explicitly labeled non-GMO, certified organic food. It is
According to mycologist Paul Stamets, the mycellium
a nother thing to know that simply engaging in necessary
may in fact be the "Earth's natural internet," a means
b iological functions, such as breathing or consuming
through which species unrelated in genetic and
w ater, will result in exposure to albeit minute, and yet
geographic time and space may communicate with one
n onetheless toxicologically relevant and measurable
another, effectively acting like a neural network within
c oncentrations of this chemical. Where, then, do we draw
the biosphere. These microorganisms (and especially
the line? Is this a form of chemical assault, or simply
fungi, to which we are more closely related than bacteria)
collateral damage in the agricultural war against pests?
also contain information buried deep within their DNA
on the evolution of the tree of life; if destroyed,
O ne thing is for sure: Roundup-ready plants are, through
t heir inherent design, destroying the biodiversity upon undiscovered parts of ourselves will no doubt also perish.
which our existence depends. Monoculturing itself, as the
This new study found that adverse changes in selected
name implies, involves selecting one plant, or a few
food microorganisms, including death and growth
chosen “ones,” out of the tens of thousands that once
inhibition, were observed at lower concentrations of
occupied a pre-agricultural habitat, and renaming all
Roundup exposure than those recommended in
other non-target plants as “other” or “weeds,” requiring
agriculture. Researchers also confirmed previous findings
their destruction. Monoculturing and genetic engineering
that adjuvants or so-called “inactive” ingredients in
have transformed what were once unimaginably
Roundup formulations were, in some cases, more toxic
biodiverse and vast habitats, into agrichemical-saturated
than the active ingredient itself, namely, glyphosate.
wastelands, with half-living, chemically-assaulted GM
These findings may explain why certain species of
plants just holding on for dear life by a human-held
Lactobacillus bulgaricus, used in milk production, such
string, until harvest time.
as the subspecies Lactobacillus cremoris, have been
And yet, the more fundamental and unrecoverable
difficult to isolate from the dairy environment in some
problem may be what has happened to the soil itself
geographic areas. Continued on page 11
-7- Traditional African Clinic May 2012
African Traditional Herbal Research Clinic
Volume 7, Isue 6 NEWSLETER May 2012
FEATURED ARTICLES
Cancer in Africa: Fighting a Nameless Enemy
By Kate Kelland
Reuters, May 1, 2012
ACCRA, Ghana — In Emanuel Adu's language, Twi, By 2030, according to predictions from the World Health
people call the skin cancer that is invading his cheek Organization (WHO), 70 percent of the world's cancer
and nose "sasabro." It means a disease that eats away at burden will be in poor countries, a prediction Kerr says
you.
leaves most lay people, and even many doctors, "utterly
astonished."
T h e 73-year-old former cocoa farmer has come to the
Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, miles from his "They think cancer is a disease of the wealthy. But the
home, to be treated with one of the two radiotherapy reality is that, in part because of success in tackling
machines in Ghana.
infectious diseases, Africans are living longer. It's almost
"I had heavy bleeding and discharge from my nose. The a booby prize that they're now living long enough to get
cancer."
doctor told it me was cancer, a cancer called melanoma,
but I had not heard those words before," he explains in For many women in Africa, that means diseases like
the consulting room. breast and cervical cancer have become common causes
Most of Africa's around 2,000 languages have no word of death before their victims have begun to learn about
for cancer. The common perception in both developing them, let alone find words for them.
and developed countries is that it's a disease of the A study published in 2011 found that since 1980 new
wealthy world, where high-fat, processed-food diets, cervical cancer case numbers and deaths have dropped
alcohol, smoking and sedentary lifestyles fuel tumor substantially in rich countries, but increased dramatically
growth.
in Africa and other poor regions. Overall, 76 percent of
Yet Adu's is one of an estimated one million new new cervical cancer cases are in developing regions, and
cancer cases sub-Saharan Africa will see this year - a sub-Saharan Africa already has 22 percent of all cervical
number predicted to double to 2 million a year in the cancer cases worldwide.
next decade. The sa me research found that some poorer countries saw
How can a continent hope to diagnose and treat, let a rise in breast cancer cases of more than 7.5 percent a
alone fight to prevent a disease that has no name? year over the 30 year period studied -- more than twice
the global rate.
Cancer kills the poor, too
It's a question David Kerr has been struggling with for 'Explosion of cancer'
Such data come as no surprise to Verna Vanderpuye, a
several years. A cancer specialist based at Britain's
Oxford University and former president of the clinical oncologist and radiotherapy consultant at the
European Society of Medical Oncology, Kerr set up the Korle Bu hospital where Adu will come for his treatment
charity AfrOx in 2007 to help African countries seek to every day for the next two weeks.
prevent and control cancer. "There's an explosion of cancer here," she said in an
interview in her overrun consulting room.
"There have been some marvelously effective
campaigns around AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and Unlike the diseases she is trained to treat, the oncologist
malaria, and of course infectious diseases like those are is a rare thing in Ghana. She is one of only six trained
terribly important," he said in an interview. "But cancer doctors who serve a country of 24 million people.
already there are more deaths in the world from cancer
Good quality data are hard to come by, but Vanderpuye
than from AIDS, TB and malaria combined."
Continued on page 9
-8- Traditional African Clinic May 2012
Continued from page 2– Cancer in Africa: Fighting a talk about it, look for it and recognize it to start fighting
Nameless Enemy against it. Even among the young and educated, cancer is
often taboo.
says the two main hospitals equipped to treat cancer -
hers and another further north in Ghana's second city of
"They don't want to use the C-word," says Vanderpuye.
Kumasi -- are seeing between 5,000 and 7,000 new
"That's also one of the main reasons why someone wouldn't
cancer patients a year.
want to come here - because it means she has ‘the C'.
"That's just the tip of the iceberg. That's only those who
'Humongous, foul-smelling tumors'
actually come to the health facilities. We don't really
In the chemotherapy ward at Korle Bu, oncology nurse
know what's really happening across the country," she
Juliana Tagoe, explains why patients often don't want to
says.
talk about cancer.
It seems a drastic situation. But Ghana has come a long
Many people see the disease as a spiritual punishment, she
way. Until 2007, there were no oncologists at all - and
says. "They think someone has done wrong and this is the
that's still the case in some neighboring countries. Sierra
effect - God is punishing them. They feel stigmatized."
Leone, for example, has more than 6 million people and
In rural communities where spiritual and tribal leaders are
no cancer doctors.
revered, the use of prayer, ritual and herbal remedies is
"Countries in the region like Sierra Leone, Togo, Guinea
common. Awuah-Darko says witch doctors tell patients
have absolutely nothing in terms of cancer care," said
with tumors to "treat it like a boil, and just put some herbs
Kerr. "That means Ghana's six or so oncologists have to
on it." Others are told simply to pray for it to be taken
serve neighboring countries as well."
away.
The result is that the reality for many in Africa is that a
In the months or years that intervene, the tumors spread and
cancer diagnosis means a painful and distressing death.
grow to sizes barely seen by doctors in developed countries.
The overwhelming number of cases and the paucity of
Kerr talks of patients in Africa with tumors that protrude
funds, doctors and treatment mean it's difficult to know
through the breast or encircle the whole chest, while
where to start, Kerr says. But cancer experts -- foreign
Vanderpuye describes patients with "humongous, foul-
and African -- and patients and advocacy groups say
smelling tumors" she has little hope of treating.
what's needed first is greater awareness.
Infections
Knowing the enemy
Both Kerr and Corey Casper, who runs the Uganda
Ellen Awuah-Darko is doing what she can.
Program on Cancer and Infectious Disease associated with
the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, say
The 75-year-old founder of the Accra-based Jead
another focus of efforts to tackle this looming cancer
Foundation for breast cancer says her own experience -
epidemic is to try to prevent the cancers caused by
of finding a lump and ending up paying tens of
infections.
thousands of dollars to be treated in the United States -
made her to try force change.
While many cancers are linked to lifestyle factors such as
unhealthy diets and smoking, a large number - particularly
"In America I had to put down $70,000 before they'd
in Africa - are caused by infections likes hepatitis B and C,
even talk to me," she said. "I was lucky, I could afford it
which cause liver cancer, and the human papillomavirus
after my husband died and left me money, but I thought
(HPV) that causes almost all cervical cancers.
'why should I get treatment when others can't'."
In wealthy countries, having hepatitis vaccines as part of
Now, every Wednesday, Awuah-Darko goes with
routine childhood immunization programs, and introducing
healthcare workers into communities in the Eastern
national campaigns programs with new HPV vaccines from
Region of Ghana to offer women breast screening. It's
drug makers Merck and GlaxoSmithKline has brought rates
not the high-tech mammogram or ultrasound scan
of liver and cervical cancer down significantly.
women in wealthy countries are used to, but a simple
breast examination and a lesson in how to self-check.
If such nationwide HPV vaccine campaigns could be
introduced in Africa, experts say, the effect on rates of
"Early detection can save your life. I want everybody to
death and disease could be dramatic. Global health groups
know that. It's not something people should be ashamed
are working with drug makers on securing a discounted
of or embarrassed about," she said.
price for HPV shots for poor countries, but getting them to
But she and the handful of cancer specialists are fighting
Africa could take years.
deep cultural resistance -- not only to the idea that
Continued on page 10
cancer affects people here, but also to the idea they must
-9- Traditional African Clinic May 2012
Continued from page 9– Cancer in Africa: Fighting a
could be some kind of green vegetable, or some type of
Nameless Enemy
bean, which you can no longer find in any of the markets
Akosua -- a name meaning "Sunday" that this patient gives now and is not being grown any more by your farmers.
instead of her real name -- has no concept yet of how an
External influences
injection made by a Western pharmaceutical company
We must ask, what really could have happened? We seem
could have prevented the cancer spreading inside her.
to be more bent on preserving our music, our art, our
The 48-year-old farmer has cervical cancer and has dress, and other aspects of our culture than on our
suffered with a lot of pain and bleeding, but for now the agricultural heritage. It is possible that a lot of our
fact that she's come to the hospital and is seeing an traditional food crops are disappearing because we are no
oncologist is foreign territory enough. longer participating fully in the production of our own
food or because our farming practices have changed due
"But I'm not afraid," she says. "I've been seen by the doctor
to external influences like the use of heavy machines and
now. I know I am in the right place to get the right
mindless use of agro-chemicals. We seem to see more
treatment."
promotion of carrots, cabbages, spinaches, and other such
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47245512/ns/health- vegetables than of our traditional ones.
cancer/#.T6z2p1LheQJ
☻☻☻☻☻☻ Mukiibi was at Lukindu Village to launch a Slow Food
community garden at the home of Mr John Ssentongo to
Continued from page 2– Let us Preserve our Local
be known as Cotefone Community Garden. It was also
Food Crop Varieties
the launch of some other seven Slow Food community
gardens in the Masaka region.
But do such leaders know that we have food thieves?”
Slow Food was founded in 1986 by an Italian food
In his opinion, the point to emphasise should be food
activist, Carlo Petrini. Its prime objective was to support
sovereignty. The household should grow its own food or
and defend good food, its enjoyment, and a slow pace of
keep its own livestock and poultry and have enough of
life. It also teaches the importance of good nutrition in
these all the time. Food grown in a particular place is
promoting the quality of life.
sovereign to that place and to its people.
Each Slow Food community garden is owned by about 30
When you sit down to enjoy a meal of matooke and beans,
households and serves as a demonstration garden where
that meal is tastier if you know something about its history
all the farmers meet regularly to share knowledge and
and if you were part of that history. You could probably
innovations. Found across the world, Slow Food
remember the moments you spent clearing the garden of all
members do not subscribe to the idea of fast foods--those
the weeds, the entire process of ground preparation, the
quickly prepared foods in restaurants or in some homes
sowing of the bean seeds, the weeding, and finally the
like fries or hamburgers. Rather they promote traditional
harvesting.
food crops grown locally, in the home and traditionally
It is so gratifying having such beans on your plate, getting
prepared.
them into your mouth, and enjoying their taste before
They prefer eating the food whose story they can tell--
swallowing them. You could remember the actual place in
when it was planted, where it was grown, when it was
your banana garden where the matooke on the plate before
harvested, who cooked it and how it was cooked. They
you came from. Then, you would finally associate its taste
are a network of farmers, producers, and food
to that place.
communities who believe in sustainable agriculture that
The truth is that many matooke growers know which part
respects the environment and uses natural resources
of their gardens produces the best matooke and it is the
carefully. They are working to rediscover and promote
place they normally go to when they want to prepare a
local foods, to save regional identities and their local
good meal of matooke. They know which matooke goes
cultures and traditions.
best with fish, which matooke goes best with beans, and
http://www.monitor.co.ug/artsculture/Reviews/-
which one is best with goat’s meat and where in their
/691232/1370494/-/cqqfm/-/index.html
garden to go to get the desired bunch.
☻☻☻☻☻☻
Do you remember a traditional food crop in your home
area that everyone enjoyed eating many years ago but is
now endangered, slowly disappearing, or even extinct?
It could be a type of mushroom, it could be a root crop, it
-10- Traditional African Clinic May 2012
