Joseph Gakpo
United States promises Africa 7 billion dollars to tackle climate crisis and food insecurity
United States vice president Kamala Harris’s nine-day visit to Africa saw her discuss with leaders measures to tackle the continent’s ...
African regulators say the continent has the appropriate legal regime to oversee the safe use of GMOs
Biosafety regulators from Africa told the United Nations (UN) Biodiversity Conference in Montreal, Canada in December 2022 that African countries ...
Climate change: Gene editing can help create resilient crops
Experts say enhanced access to gene editing can help create resilient crops that respond appropriately to climate change. Some agricultural ...
CRISPR tackles deadly cassava mosaic virus disease
Work has begun to possibly develop CRISPR cassava varieties that are resistant to the deadly cassava mosaic disease (CMD), after an international team ...
Video: As Ghana appears poised to approve its first GMO — a insect-resistant cowpea — here’s the story of the country’s science journey
Ghana is on the verge of approving its first genetically modified crop, the pod borer resistant (PBR) cowpea. In this ...
Public comments reveal overwhelming support for GM cowpea in Ghana
Public comments submitted to Ghana’s National Biosafety Authority (NBA) show overwhelming support for approving pod borer-resistant cowpea, the country’s first ...
Ghana closer to commercializing disease-resistant GMO cowpeas
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has submitted an application to the National Biosafety Authority (NBA) requesting for ...
Nigerian companies ramp up production to meet high demand for GMO cowpea seeds
Nigeria’s private local seed companies are expanding production of genetically modified (GM) cowpea seeds to supply farmers eager to grow ...
Anti-GMO stances ‘insult smallholder farmers’ in Africa and Asia
Science advocates in Africa and Asia reject claims that genetically modified (GM) crops have been hijacked by big companies from ...
Frustration grows over Ghana’s delay in approving GM cowpea
As crop losses in Ghana lead to skyrocketing prices for cowpea — a protein-rich staple food — farmers, seed producers ...
Nigerian GMO cowpea farmers testify to reduced pest infestation and better yields
Nigerian farmers growing the country’s first GMO food crop — pod borer-resistant (PBR) cowpea, or beans — say they have ...
Can ‘indigenous’ and GM seeds co-exist in Africa?
It’s high time farmers in the developing world are given access to the improved seeds and agricultural innovations that have ...
Photo series: Nigeria welcomes GMO cowpea
Nigeria is the world’s largest producer and consumer of cowpea, popularly called beans. The country consumes more than 3.6 million ...
Nigerian farmers just can’t get enough of GMO cowpea seeds
Nigeria is witnessing a shortage of genetically modified cowpea seeds as farmer demand for the insect-resistant crop dramatically outstrips supply ...
Gene editing has ‘limitless potential’ to reduce malnutrition, says global food expert
Gene editing is a tool with unlimited potential to help reduce malnutrition globally, said Dr. Lawrence Haddad, executive director of ...
Ghana edges toward adopting pest resistant GMO cowpea
[The Ghanian] government says its decision on whether to approve Ghana’s first genetically modified crop will be based on science ...
Biotechnology is key to meeting UN’s goal of zero hunger worldwide by 2030
Agricultural biotechnology is a crucial tool for transforming global food systems to meet the United Nation’s goal of ensuring zero ...
GM crops: ‘Let the farmers decide’
A South African scientist says it’s about time African governments prioritized the interests of farmers and allow them to use ...
Book review: Jennifer Thompson’s ‘GM Crops and the Global Divide’ offers lessons drawn from the history of the agricultural biotechnology revolution, for activists to CRISPR advocates
I’ve spent the last few weeks reading “GM Crops and the Global Divide,” the new book by Jennifer Thomson, emeritus professor at ...
US intelligence report predicts greater global role for biotechnology
Biotechnology could potentially account for about 20 percent of the global economy by 2040, with agricultural and manufacturing uses the ...
Agroecology in Africa: Silver bullet or pathway to poverty?
A model of agroecology that limits farming inputs in Africa to solely indigenous materials is meeting resistance from farmers and ...
‘My position is not ideological’: Why some agroecology advocates accept GM crops and synthetic pesticides
[Head of advocacy and programs at the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana, Dr. Charles Nyaaba] said that modern technological inventions, ...
High-yielding sweet potato that fights vitamin A deficiency could be Ghana’s first gene-edited crop
Research on Ghana’s first gene-edited crop — a high-yielding sweet potato with increased beta carotone content — is under way ...
Viewpoint: GM crops have been a global success, so why do critics focus on the experience of one African country?
In October 2017, I took a trip to Burkina Faso from Accra, Ghana — a journey that lasted a little ...
Relying on agroecology will jeopardize Africa’s food security, farm official warns
An international push for Africa to adopt agroecology as its main agricultural production method threatens to jeopardize the continent’s food ...
Pandemic food shortages could boost Ghana’s acceptance of insect-resistant GM Bt cowpea
The Covid-19 pandemic is increasing public interest in local food production, which may boost consumer acceptance of the insect-resistant genetically ...
Some African scientists fear the continent will be left behind as gene editing transforms food production
Scientists in Africa are calling on their governments to ensure the continent isn’t left behind as gene editing revolutionizes food ...
COVID-19 pandemic may boost public acceptance of Ghana’s GM cowpea
The COVID-19 pandemic is increasing public interest in local food production, which may boost consumer acceptance of the insect-resistant genetically ...
