By John Kasozi
and Ronald Kalyango

UGANDA should not adopt genetically modified organisms without adequate technologies and regulatory means for their safe use, activists have said. They warned that the country could lose revenue from exporting natural (organic) agricultural products to the international market.

According to the Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment, Uganda’s organic exports since 2003 have been constant at 38% with 45,000 certified organic farmers cultivating 185,000 hectares of land.

The value of organic agricultural exports rose from $3.7m (sh6b) in 2003/04 to $6.2m (sh10b) in 2004/05.

The coalition said it would be a mistake to introduce the organisms without sensitising the public.

Earlier this year, the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology approved two confined field trials for genetically modified bananas and cotton to be conducted at the national agricultural research laboratories in Kawanda, Soroti and Mobuku in Kasese.

“We believe that the decision by the Ugandan Government to adopt the organisms was ill-conceived,” Godber Tumushabe, the coalition’s executive director, told journalists on Wednesday at their offices in Kampala.

However, Dr. Andrew Kiggundu, who is one of the implementers of the banana trials, said they had sensitised the people.

The researcher at the agricultural biotechnology centre in Kawanda added that the Government was drafting a law to control the entry of genetically modified products into Uganda.