Ghana to tap into genetic engineering – Biochemist

cassavaDr Yaa Difie Osei, a biochemist and molecular biologist, has said the country was positioning itself to tap into the benefits of modern biotechnology and genetic engineering for guaranteed food security.

She said structures including institutional and legal frameworks, human capacity development, goodwill among practicing partners, acceptance by Ministries, Departments and Agencies and government assented to the Bio-Safety ACT (ACT 831) of 2011 were motivating.

Dr Difie-Osei said this at a one-day workshop for select farmers, farmer-based organisations and staff of Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) in the southern and middle-belt of the Volta Region in Ho.

It was organised by the Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology in Africa (OFAB) under the auspices of the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Planning Committee of OFAB.

She said two institutions, the Crop Research Institute (CRI) and Savanna Research Institute (SARI) of CSIR have began studies into nitrogen efficient rice and Bt cotton and similar projects are being undertaken in Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Kenya and South Africa.

Dr Difie-Osei said targets set in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) including eradicating extreme hunger, poverty and disease, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health could be a mirage when biotechnology does not champion this dream.

She said genetic engineering could be a potential high-risk area like all other technologies but the ability to tap into the positivity under strict security regimes to provide humanities needs surmounted all skepticisms.

Mr John Tsrakasu, Volta Regional Director of MoFA, urged experts to be open-minded about the intricacies of the technology and avoid being defensive.

He said “Let us embrace technologies but challenge ourselves about the negative technicalities that will emerge.”

Togbe Afede XIV, Agbogbomefia of Asogli State represented by Togbe Kotoku II, Paramount Chief of Kpenoe Traditional Area, said science and technology is the vehicle of development in the 21st Century and appealed to scientists to partner with chiefs to coin matching words for scientific terminologies for easy understanding.

Source: GNA

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