Tanzanian farmers push for GM Bt cotton approval now

The Tanzania Cotton Board (TCB) is advocating cultivation of GMO in the country stressing that not allowing to do so would subject cotton farmers to abject poverty. It says the Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) cotton would increase farmers’ yields while also increasing its quality.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Guardian in Dar es Salaam, TCB acting director Gabriel Mwalo said that a law allowing farmers to cultivate GMO cotton was still in the process and saying farmers were longing for it.

“While Tanzania is still waiting for the law, our neigbours- Kenya and Uganda are now in pilot projects of GM cotton. We need to allow our farmers now to improve their lives,” he stressed.

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Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF) executive director Dr Hoseana Lunogelo urged the government to conduct awareness campaigns on the use of genetically modified crops which apart from being better yield producers are drought resistant, a trait necessary given the ongoing global climate changes. “Let us advice our farmers on the benefits and safety of GMOs,” he said.

Read the full, original article: TCB: Allow GMO cotton cultivation