GMOs: Which way to go?

Jun 28, 2004

If there is any one thing that has polarised the world today since the collapse of the cold war in the 1980s, it is the debate on genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

By Robert Anguzu

If there is any one thing that has polarised the world today since the collapse of the cold war in the 1980s, it is the debate on genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

There is nothing like towing a middle line. You are either for or against GMOs.

A major concern of those opposed to GMOs is that it will in the long run affect the environment and human health. But the advocates for GMOs have dismissed this concern as a fear of the unknown, which has no scientific proof yet. But they argue that there is need for building a capacity to understand GMOs.

Americans are currently the leading advocates for GM foods, especially through their multinational corporations like Monsanto and Syngenta. Europeans have not fully pronounced themselves. Africans, as usual, are torn apart between forces beyond their control.

Advocates for GMOs argue that Africa stands to gain the most from genetically modified crops for reasons such as the ever increasing population, pests, poor soils, floods, drought and extreme temperature which keep crop yields low. They argue that genetic modifications could boost yields and help alleviate food shortages.

According to a survey published in Newsweek (September 15, 2003) GM research priorities in Africa vary from those in the developed world.

Poor countries are said to be interested in rice, potato, maize, papaya and soyabean. But most GM crops are soybean, maize, cotton, canola and squash, most of which have no major local appeal.

The survey also indicates that South Africa is the only country on the continent that has welcomed GM seeds but it still accounts for less than one percent of the worldwide land area planted with GM crops.

Researchers have developed a variety of genetically modified maize strains, but most of the other grains that Africa relies on lack GM variants.

Dr George William Otim-Nape, the director general of National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) also argues that researched crops in developed countries are not well adapted to local conditions and are not resistant to pests and diseases in Africa.

He further argues that the taste (or flavour) of the crops do not appeal to the local people, saying that relevant research for Africans would be in crops like banana, millet, sorghum, cassava and cowpeas. In a recent interview with BBC journalists, Dr Otim- Nape urged African countries to recognise the power of science, adding that Africans cannot depend on borrowed science. “We missed the green revolution, but we should not miss the biotechnology revolution. We should embrace it to address agricultural production,” he told the BBC.

The Newsweek report indicates that field tests of experimental GM sweet potatoes yields 18 % higher than untreated varieties. But the chance that farmers will get to plant them any time soon is slight.

Monsanto and Syngenta have long offered genetically hardened maize and cotton that resists insects and pests. Preliminary research suggests that these same traits would work on sorghum, millet and perhaps even cowpeas. If properly adopted, such technologies could increase Africa’s yields from 10 to 15 %.

A Kenyan scientist, Florence Murungi Wambuga is said to have done some promising work with sweet potatoes.

She did her postdoctoral work in the laboratories of Monsanto, applying viral-resistant technologies to the plant. But field trials have so far failed to produce a marketable strain, partly because the effort is said to be on such a small scale compared with big-money cash crops like papaya and corn.

In August last year, President Yoweri Museveni announced that Uganda would allow processed GM foods into the country and he officially opened a new biotech lab at Kawanda Agricultural Research Institute. He said after trying to understand the biotechnology better, he was now fully mobilised to accept it. Nigeria, Kenya, Malawi and a number of other countries are considering taking similar steps and already allow small-scale research.

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