Biotechnology Book launched in Accra

Regional News of Sunday, 27 July 2014

Source: GNA

A book on biotechnology in agriculture has been launched in Accra with a stress on the importance of political will towards agricultural biotechnology in solving food and nutritional security in Africa.

The 291-page book, dubbed Biotechnology in Africa Emergence, Initiatives and Future is a collection of science policy reports from African scientists based purely on their experiences with the use of biotechnology in agriculture in different parts of the continent.

Edited by Florence Dr Wambugu, Chief Executive of Africa Harvest and Daniel Kamanga Communication Expert of the Africa Harvest Biotech Foundation, the book for the first time, offers African voices from multidisciplinary fields to be allowed to set the continents biotechnology development agenda.

Dr Wambugu noted that the book has come at a time when the debate on the safety of biotechnology has heightened, particularly with the advent of the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in agricultural production.

She confirmed that Africa has made a tremendous shift from general discussions and was focusing on the safety of plant biotechnology to a concrete exploration of crops and traits deemed useful for various African countries.

She noted that Africas political and scientific leaders were demanding a greater say in how research and development funds were allocated and spent and argued that Africas political leaders must see both clear benefits and have elbowroom to drive the change required.

This is the way African governments can employ workable policies, sustainable biosafety legislation and regulation and respond effectively to public-private partnerships.

Dr Wambugu stressed the need for strong political will on the part of African leaders to apply biotechnology to revolutionalise agriculture on the continent. There is also the need to ensure that we do not only fight for food security but ensure that we make food nutritious for the people to benefit from eating their agricultural produce, she added.

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Biotechnology Book launched in Accra