{"id":394755,"date":"2017-06-07T12:57:28","date_gmt":"2017-06-07T12:57:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ghana-mma.com\/2017\/06\/07\/plant-breeding-professor-urges-ghanaians-to-give-gmo-a-chance\/"},"modified":"2017-06-07T12:57:28","modified_gmt":"2017-06-07T12:57:28","slug":"plant-breeding-professor-urges-ghanaians-to-give-gmo-a-chance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/06\/07\/plant-breeding-professor-urges-ghanaians-to-give-gmo-a-chance\/","title":{"rendered":"Plant Breeding Professor urges Ghanaians to give GMO a chance"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<!--               \n\n<div class=\"in-ad\">\n\n\n<div id='div-gpt-ad-1495043641385-0' style='height:250px; width:300px;'>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n              <\/div>\n\n --><\/p>\n<p>Ghanaians are being urged to give Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) technology a chance as a possible tool for dealing with the country\u2019s food security challenges.<\/p>\n<p>International Plant Breeding Professor with US-based Cornell University, Sarah Evanega Davidson says Ghana stands a better chance of being food secure if the country does not close its doors to any of the potential technologies that could help it deal with its food security needs, including GMO technology or biotechnology.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFarmers should have the chance to choose whether or not they want to adopt new Agric technologies and scientists around the world should have access to the tools they need to meet the great challenges the world face today,\u201d she explained in an interview with Joy News\u2019 Joseph Opoku Gakpo.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/1002554\/Myjoyonline.com_InArticle_300x250 --><\/p>\n<p>She expresses concern biotechnology as a tool for dealing with agricultural challenges has been politicised which is preventing smallholder farmers who need it the most from getting access to the technology.<\/p>\n<p>GMOs are crops produced from seeds which have been altered genetically to introduce desired traits like pest resistance and drought tolerance from other living organisms.<\/p>\n<p>Following the passage of the Biosafety Act 2011 by Parliament, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has been undertaking field trials for GM cotton, cowpea and rice as part of regulatory procedures until they are introduced onto the market.<\/p>\n<p>The first batch of GM crops is not expected on the market until after 2018.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/6900506379910_7832209699166.jpg\" style=\"border-style:solid; border-width:5px; height:400px; width:400px\" data-pagespeed-url-hash=\"800395742\" onload=\"pagespeed.CriticalImages.checkImageForCriticality(this);\" \/><\/p>\n<p><i><b>Sarah Evanega Davidson<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n<p>But various Civil Society Groups including Food Sovereignty Ghana have kicked against the planned commercialisation saying it would have negative socio \u2013 economic as well as health impacts on Ghana.<\/p>\n<p>The group has in the past sued government in court, organised demonstrations and been engaged in media campaign to whip up support for the technology.<\/p>\n<p>But Sarah Evanega who is Director of the Cornell Alliance for Science Programme says it is about time a decision on the technology is taken based on available scientific evidence instead of denigrating it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to appreciate this technology on a case by case basis and place by place basis. We need to understand what crop is being developed, the importance of that crop in any particular context, what trait is being introduced.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Who benefits from this technology? What are the trade-offs? Are there alternatives? And after you dig into all these different aspects, you can begin to make a rational decision on whether or not any particular so-called GMO is good for a country or good for a people,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/8820057160169_6310906280815.jpg\" style=\"border-style:solid; border-width:5px; height:363px; width:550px\" data-pagespeed-url-hash=\"847905890\" onload=\"pagespeed.CriticalImages.checkImageForCriticality(this);\" \/><\/p>\n<p><i><b>Convention People&#8217;s Party (CPP) campaigned against GMO<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo for example, whether or not Ghana needs GMO cotton is one question. Whether or not GMO cowpea is good for Ghana is another question. But let\u2019s evaluate those on a case by case and place by place basis&#8230; let\u2019s not just think of it as one singular concept of GMOs.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Let\u2019s be more rational about it and be more evidence-based. Let\u2019s look at the data for each of those crops and see if it the right choice for Ghana,\u201d Sarah Evanega added. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Ghana is considered to be largely food secure but the country still has major agricultural challenges that analysts say require urgent attention.<\/p>\n<p>The level of productivity on Ghanaian farms is averagely less than 40 percent, the country spends more than $2 billion\u00a0importing food annually and more than GHS400 million\u00a0worth of food is lost annually through post-harvest losses.<\/p>\n<p>Sarah Evanega is has been commending the University of Ghana for its efforts in undertaking research on the technology.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is a great effort at the University of Ghana to invest in the top plant breeders in Ghana to do biotech and give them the skills they need to breed the crops to improve Ghana\u2019s future\u2026<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Let us not discount the fact that there is really promising technology that is being developed in Ghana and for Ghana,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ghanaians are being urged to give Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) technology a chance as a possible tool for dealing with the country\u2019s food security challenges. International Plant Breeding Professor with US-based Cornell University, Sarah Evanega Davidson says Ghana stands a better chance of being food secure if the country does not close its doors to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-394755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-business"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Plant Breeding Professor urges Ghanaians to give GMO a chance - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/06\/07\/plant-breeding-professor-urges-ghanaians-to-give-gmo-a-chance\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Plant Breeding Professor urges Ghanaians to give GMO a chance - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Ghanaians are being urged to give Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) technology a chance as a possible tool for dealing with the country\u2019s food security challenges. 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