Let's adopt Biotech for food security

Story : Benjamin Xornam Glover, Aburi The Director- General of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Dr. Abdulai Baba Salifu has stated that Ghana and the rest of Africa have no other choice than to adopt modern biotechnology in agriculture because it holds the key to reversing the worsening food insecurity and hunger in Africa. He warned that failure to do so would not only increase Africa's hungry population, but also increase Africa's reliance on imported food from countries that have fast adopted biotechnology in food production. The Director-General said this at Aburi at a workshop for journalists and scientists on “Effective Reporting of Agricultural Biotechnology in Ghana for journalists ” He noted that for many African countries the major challenge that faced people was extreme hunger. "For many people in Africa, our major headaches are bread and butter issues and the adoption of modern biotechnology holds the key for developing appropriate and improve crop variety to addresses those challenges.", Dr Salifu said. The workshop was organized by African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) in collaboration with the CSIR and the Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB). Dr Salifu noted that the idea that people do not appreciate science and technology and its application is stems from fact that people lack the knowledge or are not well informed. He suggested the modification of the Senior High Schools (SHS) curriculum to include the teaching of modern sciences adding that the CSIR was ready to collaborate with the Ghana Education Service to review the science text books used in the Senior High Schools (SHSs) in Ghana to include the study of modern biotechnology to better equip the students. Dr Salifu also allayed the fears of the public stressed that the application of modern biotechnology for food production poses limited risk because genetically modified crops are the only crops that are subjected to rigorous tests to assure you of its safety. Mr Daniel Otunge, the OFAB Coordinator, the agriculture in africa faces a lot of challenges stressing although 60 to 70 per cent of the African population depends on agriculture for their livelihoods, only four per cent of cropped land has access to irrigation and that 25 to 33 percent of cropped land is subject to severe to moderate drought, making food production on them extremely difficult Mr. Otunge said other factors affecting agriculture in Africa include poor policies, low investments in agriculture, virulent attach on crops by pests, diseases and low application of fertilizers due to extreme poverty. He challenged the media to help in promotion of better agricultural policies and adoption of new technologies to help mitigate the challenges. Mr. Otunge underscored the central role the media plays in shaping public opinion by setting the agenda by giving weighted coverage to various societal issues. “For better or for worse, the world is mass media mediated,” he said, adding that the Ghanaian science reporters, and in deed African science journalists in general, had the freedom to be either mirrors to society or change agents. End Writer's email: benjamin.glover@graphic.com.gh