Africa
Insect-resistant GMO crops make key contributions to fighting hunger, US State Department reports
Farmers around the world are using advances in agricultural science to increase crop yields, reduce the need for pesticides and ...
African experts urge a ‘special focus’ on agriculture in post COVID recovery
African experts are urging governments across the continent to give a “special focus” to agriculture in the post-COVID-19 recovery era ...
Viewpoint: Activist ‘armchair’ farmers keep life-saving technology out of Africa
Farmers in more developed climes use sophisticated technologies such as robots, temperature and moisture sensors, aerial images, drones and GPS ...
African scientists try to resurrect research sidelined by COVID
As African nations begin easing the lockdown imposed to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, scientists are uncertain about ...
Kenya may declare locust infestation a national emergency as crop damage mounts
Residents of the seven sub-counties of Turkana are staring at a looming starvation after millions of locusts invaded farms and ...
Greenpeace legal challenge fails to stop Kenya’s food imports
A Greenpeace-endorsed lawsuit to prevent Kenya’s government from importing maize to ease predicted food shortages has been rendered moot due ...
Why GMO acceptance in Ethiopia could lead Africa to embrace biotech crops
A coalition of Ethiopian Civil Society Organizations and their global allies have launched a campaign against the cultivation of Genetically ...
Zambia poised to release two drought-tolerant, disease-resistant cowpea varieties
Zambia will soon welcome two new varieties of drought tolerant cowpeas that can produce up to 10 percent more yield ...
Analysis: Is COVID-19 a blessing or a curse to Africa?
The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has left no corner of the world untouched. Since the first case of the disease was ...
Landmark approval of GMO Bt insect-resistant cowpea leads Nigeria toward sustainable farming
Cowpea is an incredibly important source of protein for millions of people across Africa. In December 2019, Nigeria approved the ...
Africa needs pest-resistant crops and other biology-based solutions to crack down on fall armyworm
Most Malawians, 80 per cent of the population, are subsistence farmers, depending on agriculture for survival. After harvesting, many farmers ...
What’s ‘race’ got to do with it? Sub-Saharan Africa emerges as coronavirus ‘cold spot’, offering clues to develop COVID-19 vaccines
Do diseases discriminate on the basis of 'race'—or their genetic population, using more precise terminology? On the surface, this may ...
Misconceptions about GMOs in Ghana due to weak education, study reveals
Knowledge about genetically modified (GM) food and biotechnology is low among the Ghanaian public due to low levels of education ...
African nations warm to crop biotechnology for potential food security gains
Though only a few African countries are now growing genetically modified (GM) crops commercially, governments across the continent are increasingly ...
Viewpoint: Greenpeace lobbies to ban fungicides that kill cancer-causing mycotoxins
A vast network of organizations, including known players such as Greenpeace, are throwing a myriad of unscientific publications at the ...
African science steps up to COVID challenge
As the coronavirus spreads across Africa, launching a pandemic that the World Health Organization (WHO) warns could “smolder” for years, ...
Seeds of fear sown in Uganda as farmers confuse clonal coffee with coronavirus
The emergence of the fast-spreading coronavirus and its virulent COVID-19 have come with unprecedented conspiracy theories related to source, cause ...
Kenya poised to greenlight GMO disease-resistant cassava cultivation to protect key food source
Kenya is planning to green-light the cultivation and sale of genetically modified cassava in a move to improve food security ...
Podcast: Tracing humanity’s roots: uncovering history and genetic diversity in Africa
We explore the genetic diversity in the birthplace of humanity and discover the cultural and historical stories written in the ...
Ethiopia remains a net food importer, despite its rich farming history. Can GMO crops help?
The 21st century is said to be the century of biology and ecology. Thus, for Ethiopia, as one of the ...
US, Kenya free-trade agreement could end run African nation’s ‘entrenched’ anti-GMO interests
Anti-biotech activists and sentiment are entrenched throughout Africa, but U.S. farm groups and businesses are hoping a free-trade agreement with ...
Skeletons of Africans enslaved in Mexico reveal extreme hardships of the Atlantic slave trade
In a study published [April 30] in the journal Current Biology, scientists tell the stories of three 16th-century enslaved Africans ...
Rescuing Africa’s staple orphan crops—sorghum, millet, cowpea, cassava and sweat potato—with biotechnology could help feed millions of people
The year is 2100 and Africa is home to the world’s largest population of young people, with its current leader ...
COVID-19 may stall Nigeria’s rollout of GMO cowpea
The COVID-19 pandemic may delay the rollout of pest-resistant Bt cowpea, Nigeria’s first genetically modified (GM) food crop. The country’s ...
Second massive locust swarm hits East Africa, exacerbating already severe food shortage threat
They’re back: Trillions of locusts descend on East Africa in second wave. Think of locusts as giant, hormonally charged, very ...
Despite GMO Bt insect-resistant cotton approval, Ethiopia still skittish about widespread biotech crop cultivation
The Ethiopian government has denied approving the commercial cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) other than two Bt cotton varieties ...
Ethiopian geneticist defends his country’s decision to approve GMO insect-resistant Bt cotton
A recent report by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service welcoming the Government of Ethiopia’s (GOE) ...
