The
network is set up by the AU’s NEPAD – New Economic Partnership for Africa’s
Development – with the goal of building functional biosafety systems in Africa
and empowering local regulators with science-based information.
Dr.
Moussa Savadogo, Senior Program Officer, Environment Biosafety, says no country
should ignore the importance of biotechnology in food production.
“Africa
has been caught up with misinformation about GMO but people have now started
getting the right information, so they are seeing the importance of biosafety;
they are seeing the importance of biotechnology and they are being aware that
it will be a very bad thing if they continue to lag behind this technology,” he
observed.
Agricultural
productivity in Africa is relatively low due largely to the low level of
engagement of modern technologies.
Fertilizer
usage is not more than 8kg per hectare in Ghana compare 100-200 kg/ha in Asia
for the Green Revolution and only 0.2% of land is under irrigation in Ghana.
Modern
biotechnology is expected to contribute to the efficient use of agro-inputs as
well as in the development of the seed sector, according to experts. It will
contribute to sustainable intensification of agriculture in Ghana.
But
there is fierce public debate on introducing genetically modified organisms
(GMOs) in agricultural production.
Advocacy
group, Food Sovereignty Ghana, for instance contends that “GMOs yield profits
only with large scale mechanized agriculture that throws people out of work and
off their land”.
Dr.
Savadogo however says “no country should ignore biotechnology but harness the
benefits of biotechnology by setting up biosfaty systems.”
Ghana’s
Biosafety Act 831 of 2011 ensures that society derives the benefits from
biotechnology for socioeconomic development. The Act regulates that the
acquisition of the technology must be also enabling.
Prof.
Walter Alhassan, a private consultant and former head of the Council for Scientific
and Industrial Research (CSIR), says Ghana would need to go for win-win
engagements with international agri-businesses in order that the country benefits
from new technology application in agriculture.
He
expects negotiations with multinationals in technology adaptation to be
mutually profitable.
“The
multinationals invest a lot in their technologies, so if they are bringing it
to you they also want to maximize their profits; but you must also make sure
that you gain as much as possible to ensure win-win outcomes,” said Prof.
Alhassan.
Ghana,
like other African countries, is exploring available technologies to sustain
agricultural production.
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