GMOs UNDER FIRE AGAIN IN AFRICA

 

BY GRACE MACHA IN ARUSHA

Genetically modified seeds have once again come under fire in Africa with some experts saying they are no panacea to  the food crisis facing the continent.

They told a zoom press conference on the Future of African Food Systems that GMOs were among the false promises of the Green Revolution by the multinationals. 

"GMOs, artificial fertilizers and exotic/imported seeds would not save the continent from its perennial food challenges", said Dr.Million Belay,  a food security expert from Ethiopia.

He said the Green Revolution driven by the multinationals has not been entirely helpful to Africa and has instead led to the loss of indigenous seeds and foodstuffs. 

The online discussion was organized by the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (Afsa), a large civil society network spearheading nature-based food production. 

The concern comes as only a limited number of African countries have reported field trials of GMOs with others such as Tanzania having suspended the seed trials.

Countries which are reported to have issued permits for field trials of GMOs are Burkina Faso, Egypt, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. 

Scores of others which have imposed biosafety restrictions on GMOs include Algeria, Angola, Benin, Sudan, Uganda, Mozambique and also Zambia and Zimbabwe. 

Food security experts have countless times downplayed  the assertion that GMO seeds had much higher yields needed for the continent to become self-sufficient in food.

Instead they insisted genetically modified foods may actually render African farmers and scientists more and not less reliant on global actors and markets. 

Opposition to GMO foods in Africa is manifested in maize, the continent's most widely grown crop, having GM production being confined to only South Africa.

Tanzania ordered the suspension of GMO research trials on seeds and scrutiny of imported genetically engineered seeds in December last year.

Ms Mariam Bassey-Orovwuje of Friends of the Earth Africa, a lobby based in Nigeria, called on the external donors to stop imposing schemes for  'industrialized agriculture' on the African farmers.

“It is urgent to change course and turn to a development model based on truly sustainable practices, equity, and justice", she said, noting that the indigenous African seeds should not be discarded.

She added;" Farmers all over Africa have shown far more promising results sharing knowledge and working with scientists to establish low-input farming methods that leave the control of production in the hands of African farmers. 

She said agroecology, unlike 'industrial agriculture', can increase productivity with lower costs and higher incomes for farmers while also building climate resilience.