High time MPs passed Biotechnology and Bio-safety Bill

By Isaac Ongu

The chairman Science and Technology Committee of the Ugandan Parliament was reported in the New Vision to have told farmers who were meeting him to present a petition urging their MPs to pass the Biotechnology and Biosafety Bill that his committee visited 15 different countries to learn about biotechnologies and related regulatory frameworks in those countries. 

Uganda formulated the Biotechnology and biosafety policy which was approved by Cabinet in 2008 in fulfilling her obligation after ratifying the Cartagena Protocol in 2001.

The protocol requires each party to take necessary and appropriate legal, administrative and other measures to implement obligations concerning genetically modified organisms.  This led to the current biotechnology and the biosafety bill before parliament.

Uganda is conducting several biotechnology trials in Namulonge, Kawanda, Kasese, and Serere. These trials are being overseen by National Biosafety Committee under the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology, a body mandated by law to oversee scientific research in Uganda.

The biosafety law will strengthen the existing laws and establish relevant institutions that will ensure products from biotech research are safe.

Members of Parliament were granted extra time to consult on the Bill. They received inputs from various groups and as revealed by the Chairman visited several countries that are growing GM crops. The information that our honorable members of Parliament have is enough for them to enact for us a good law that will regulate biotechnology in Uganda.

 The petitions by farmers representatives show those farmers are eager waiting for the solutions to their various problems.

Scientists have always told them that they have the solution and the only major constraint being the laws that will enable them carry out trials beyond confinements so to come up with farmers preferred disease and pest resistant crop varieties.

Some concerns around GMOs are general food concerns. Last week, British Photo-Journalist, Rebecca Vassie, was reported to have died after eating a meal containing groundnuts.

Nuts are generally known for having proteins which cause allergenic reactions to some individuals. The same groundnut that killed Vassie is a source of nourishment to so many Ugandans. Heaping all food ills on GMOs is a propaganda agenda and speculations with no proven scientific basis.

Loss of Uganda’s Organic market potential is another concern that comes up quite often. Ugandan farmers practice both organic and inorganic farming and know what to spray and what not to. Farmers who do not spray should be able to sell their produce more expensively to compensate for the loss due to not spraying.

Unfortunately, our market is homogeneous and the prices are uniform rendering the organic farmers vulnerable. A case in point is the abandonment of Organic cotton production in northern Uganda because it was unprofitable. The so called Organic market in Europe is close with stringent restrictions that serve to cushion greedy Organic players as they continue to exploit vulnerable consumers.

National Agricultural Research Organization is researching on cassava, sweet potato, banana, which are crops of no interest to the Europeans but of much interest to us because without these crops we face serious challenge of food insecurity. 

Scientists have shown and demonstrated to MPs various confined trials being conducted in Uganda by Ugandans. These sons and daughters of banana and cassava consuming Ugandans do this honestly to contribute to addressing famers’ needs.

MPs should pass the biotechnology and biosafety bill into law and they will be remembered for having made a bold decision that ensured Uganda did not miss on the gene revolution.

The writer is an agriculturist and consultant on agricultural information and dissemination