The Centre for Climate Change and Food Security (CCCFS) has reiterated its opposition to Ghana’s adoption of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), describing it as a ‘hasty’ move.
The Savannah Agriculture Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-SARI) has released the country’s first GM product, a cowpea variety.
Named Songotra T, the novel cowpea variety is a pod-borer-resistant cowpea that fights the podborer disease that has been a disruptive agent on farms.
The CCCFS is appalled by the decision to launch the cowpea variety, purported to have the ability to resist pod borers due to the presence of a gene from Bacillus which produces “CRY1A” toxin.
In a statement signed by the Director of Research, Sulemana Issifu, the Centre cited concerns of toxicity from the organism.
“It’s instructive to note that after reviewing the application documents by the Savannah Agricultural Research Institute (SARI), we found the presence of the toxin in question to be abnormally high compared to other transgenic crops. While we note the lack of evidence for the toxicity of the toxin to humans, it remains a source of worry to us since the current data on the matter is inconclusive,” the statement read.
The statement continued that: “We note the lack of data on the effect of the crop on beneficial soil microorganisms and other important pollinators. If the crop in question has an effect on such organisms, then the crop is likely to alter the productivity of soils on which they planted – making the survival of succeeding crops impossible”.
The Centre is urging the country and farmers to resist what they describe as the “unholy intrusion of Ghana’s agroecosystem by GMOs”.
“GMOs remain a tool of corporate control of food production – a gamble we cannot take. We call on farmers, Ghanaians, and CSOs to reject GMOs,” the statement read.
The CCCFS is calling on the government to find solutions to the myriad challenges in the agricultural sector including road networks, the lack of postharvest storage facilities, uneven food distribution, accessibility to loan facilities which cannot be solved by GMOs.
“Indeed, it is not the lack of food that’s the problem facing the world today, but the uneven distribution of it.”
“The “shortage in the face of abundance” paradox is one to be solved by policy and not corporate cartels manipulation of nature – ostensibly to make profits,” the statement added.