Researchers target senior high students with biotech education

Ghanaian researchers are focused on increasing knowledge on the application of biotechnology in agriculture and other economic activities.

The scientists believe the high opposition to the introduction of genetically modified (GM) products into the country could be a result of limited information on the subject.

“Biotechnology is an emerging area of science; it’s progressing faster than computer science and even those of us in this part of the world, it’s difficult to even catch up with the pace and that is what has brought about all the myth fear about the GM technology,” said Dr. Marian Quain, Head of Biotechnology Research Programme at the Crops Research Institute (CRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

She is coordinating a project to introduce biotechnology education in high schools across sub-Saharan Africa.

Some Senior High Schools in Kumasi were engaged in a debate on biotechnology as part of the project – it was won by T.I. Ahmadiyya Senior High School, Kumasi.

“The information on biotech even in the syllabus is scanty, so we don’t have much facility in the laboratory even to help teach it,” stated Henry Edem Denteh, a teacher at T.I. Amass.

He describes the programmes as education as his school also receives training kits to facilitate teaching and learning of the subject.

Dr. Quain observed Ghana is yet to optimize use of biotechnologies in agricultural production and is hopeful the project will enhance critical thinking among students in the areas of biotech and GMOs.

“We need to get them educated so that they can make informed decisions and communicate effectively about the technology,” she stated.

The project is supported by Inqaba Biotechnical Industries Limited, a company that assists researchers in testing for GMOs to detect and isolate wrong materials. It is also creating a network in sub-Saharan African to promote biotechnology.

Ghana Area Director of Inqaba Biotec, Christian Adabor Badu, acknowledged there are “bad” GM products in the system but stated that the country should not neglect the importance of having “good” GMOs in place.

He is worried a high court injunction halting production and commercialization of GM products will impede efforts at applying science and technology to increase Ghana’s food security.

Campaigners against GMOs, Food Sovereignty Ghana, is in court contesting the process of testing and production of crops like rice and cowpea using GM technology without an established Biosafety Authority to legally regulate such activities.

According to the group, Ghana’s food security is endangered if it has to depend on multinational companies to produce seeds for local farmers and also contends that GM products will hurt the ability of farmers to use natural seeds for production.

The Court has ordered government to stop GM activities until the case brought by Food Sovereignty Ghana is determined.

But Mr. Adabor Badu says this development will not be in the interest of research for higher productivity.

“If we are able to embrace GMOs in the right way, the country will be able to go far in terms of increasing yield and crop and animal production,” he stated.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh 

Plant Breeders Right will give farmers choice over crop varieties, says scientist

Ghana’s research scientists are anxious to see parliament pass the Plant Breeders Right Bill before end of year.

The Bill, they argue, is a positive development which seeks to address the interests of plant breeders in the private and public sectors to promote agricultural productivity.

Advocacy group, Food Sovereignty Ghana, is however prevailing on the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs to object to the Bill in its current form.

The group is of the view that some clauses in the Bill are not coherent with other legislation and national interests such as the protection of environment, health, prevention of misappropriation of genetic resources.

But Dr. Hans Adu-Dapaah, Director of the Crops Research Institute (CRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), says the economic benefits of improved plant varieties are enormous.

“The Bill promotes the breeding of new varieties of plants aimed at improving the quantity, quality and cost of food, fuel, fibre and raw materials for industry,” he stated.

 

According to him, consumers will benefit economically as an increased productivity will lead to reduction in price of end-products and improved quality will lead to higher value products.

There are also health benefits in the form of improved nutritional content of food crops in the prevention of certain diseases as well as environmental benefits, such as developing varieties with abiotic stress resistance to mitigate the impact of climate change and variability.

Food Sovereignty Ghana also fears the Bill will compromise farmers’ rights whilst the rights of foreign corporate plant breeders are placed above national interest.

Dr. Adu-Dapaah however notes that “nobody will force any farmer to grow any variety; we’ll demonstrate the quality of the varieties to you to make your choice.”

He says scientists need to provide the best of varieties to the Ghanaian populace “and a farmer can even come up with a variety and have it protected.”

The Ghanaian scientific community has developed diverse genetic materials and technologies for adoption by farmers and other end-users.

The development of new crop varieties for specific needs of the country is vital for increased agricultural productivity.

However, the researchers are unhappy users of these varieties fail to recognise the investment and the efforts of the breeders and the need to pay the necessary royalties.

Dr. Stephen Amoah, research scientist in breeding and molecular biology, says researchers need to be protected against the physical multiplication of genetic plants without recourse to “the person who sat down to do the crosses, the biology and the genetics”.

The objective of the Plant Breeders Rights is to establish a legal framework to acknowledge the achievements of breeders of new varieties and to protect their intellectual property.

Most biological materials developed in Ghana presently do not fit appropriately under the existing intellectual property rights – including the Patents, Trade Marks, Designs and Copyright.

The PBR allows the breeder to choose to become the exclusive marketer of the variety, or to license the variety to others. This essentially will enable the plant breeders, for instance, to enter into arrangements with seed companies to earn income from research.

“It’s a way of motivating the scientists and creating competition among the institutions and also the scientists and that is one way of improving the quality of research”, stated Dr. Amoah.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh