The Director-General of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Dr. Kodjo Essien Mensah-Abrampa has revealed that the NDPC is developing a policy document on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) for Ghana’s agriculture sector.
Dr. Mensah-Abrampa said the long-term policy document on GMOs will be launched in the coming months by the NDPC.
The Director-General made this remark when he was responding to the concerns that were raised on the challenges that smallholder farmers are facing in Ghana’s Agricultural Sector, and the role of NDPC to support the smallholder farmers in the country.
Dr. Daniel Osei Ofosu, a research scientist at the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission said that GMOs are safe for humans and the environment.
He reassured that before any GMO food would be put into the market, it would have gone through the necessary safety precautions.
“Biotechnology is a scientific method of enhancing food quality, safety and production and could cater to the myriad of challenges facing the Agricultural sector in Ghana and Africa in general”, he added.
Chief Osman Fukuyama, a Farmer at Bereku in the Central Region said GMOs will stand the test of time and enhance agricultural development in Ghana.
He said over the years, climate change, poor rainfall and crop diseases had impacted on their crop yields.
He said these factors called for modification of crop varieties by using modern technologies that had become necessary and noted that biotechnology was one of the best tools in plant breeding. He added that the method could be used to engineer crops to withstand pests and diseases as well as harsh climatic conditions.
“Fears about monopoly and access to seeds were the initial concerns; a number of scientists have educated on the processes to develop GMOs and now I see the opportunities in the technology” he added.
Note: There is no GMO food in the Ghanaian market, according to the former Deputy Agriculture Minister, Dr. Alhassan Yakubu.
Story by; Reuben Quainoo.
