Viewpoint: Genetically modified crop advantage: Block on advanced sustainable farming technology cripples Africa’s goal of food and farming independence

Africa has more smallholder farmers than anywhere else in the world and these smallholder farmers are at the receiving end of the vagaries of climate change, pest and diseases as well as soil deficiencies. Credit: spaztacular via CC-BY-2.0
Africa has more smallholder farmers than anywhere else in the world and these smallholder farmers are at the receiving end of the vagaries of climate change, pest and diseases as well as soil deficiencies. Credit: spaztacular via CC-BY-2.0

The future growth of Africa will be driven through conventional breeding approaches and the use of biotechnologies, which can produce high yields but are not transgenic.

The continent needs its own unique “green revolution,” with interventions in several areas, including crops and livestock….

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It is time for African countries to embrace the best results of conventional breeding and “modest” biotechnologies to boost crop yields and make plants resistant to increasing heat and dryness due to climate change. Africa cannot rule out GM organisms (GMOs) as a means to resolve hunger. Genetically modified products and/or food should not be excluded from Africa’s menu.

If they can help increase yields and ensure stable yields, why not GMOs, especially while people are dying of hunger?

The spread of GM products in Africa will remain limited in the near term, as only six countries on the  continent have passed regulations allowing their use. Just three of these countries – Egypt, South Africa, and Burkina Faso – commercialise GM crops.

This is an excerpt. Read the original post here

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