Agric & Biotech

Zambia’s regulator of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) on Tuesday, July 9, 2019 announced it has allowed some companies to import products containing GMOs, despite resistance from some stakeholders. GMOs Paul Zambezi, Chairperson of the National Bio-Safety Authority (NBA), said four firms have been granted permits to import products containing GMOs. He said the decision was made following a risk assessment ...

The National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) says it will not allow any unsafe genetically modified organisms (GMOs) that will affect human health and the environment into the country. L-R: DG/CEO of NBMA, Dr. Rufus Ebegba and Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development, Dr. Muhammed Bello Umar, signing the MoU Dr Rufus Egbeba, the agency’s Director-General, gave the ...

A group of civil society organisations (CSOs) from Africa and around the world has denounced the release of genetically modified (GM) “male-sterile” mosquitoes in Burkina Faso. The GM mosquitoes were released in the village of Bana on Monday July 1, 2019 by the Target Malaria research consortium. Genetically modified mosquitoe The open release is intended to test the infrastructure and ...

Climate change and rising temperatures is expected to continue over time. The extent of the change depends primarily on the amount of heat-trapping gases emitted and how the earth reacts to the situation, scientists say. GMOs With a projected population of more than nine billion by 2050, Nigeria currently with 200 million people is projected to be the world’s third ...

 The Director General/CEO, National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), Dr Rufus Ebegba, has emerged as the interim Chairman of the newly established African Union Biosafety Regulators Forum. Dr Rufus Ebegba Ebegba’s emergence was part of the resolutions reached at the end of a training organised by the African Union and African Union Development Agency, NEPAD, on genome edition and the post ...

Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), the GMO-Free Nigeria Alliance and 43 other civil society organisations (CSOs) have urged the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) to reject the application by the National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike for field trial of cassava, genetically modified to express elevated levels of Iron and Zinc in the storage roots and high resistance to ...

As part of the plan to ensure food security across Africa, the African Development Bank (AfDB) on Wednesday, June 19, 2019 launched the Maize Compact of the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) in Maputo, Mozambique. AFDB president, Akinwunmi Adesina The launch forms part of the AfDB plan to scale out water-efficient and climate smart Maize technologies in 14 African ...

New research by an international group of scientists, from Inland Norway University, Bioversity International, Wageningen University and World Agroforestry, examines whether incorporating suitable trees into crop systems or replacing coffee with cocoa could help the thousands of families in Mesoamerica meet future climate conditions Harvesting cocoa Global demand for coffee and cocoa is on the rise. Yet across the equatorial belt ...

An agricultural engineering method which includes the artificial inclusion of a new (and most times greater) trait to plants as opposed to the traditional crossbreeding is called GMO, an acronym which stands for Genetically Modified Organisms. Genetically Modified or GM plants are those that have been processed in a laboratory in order to make them resistant to disease, pest and ...

One of the main research efforts of the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, over the last 10 years has been to combat the menace of a destructive insect that affects cowpea production in Nigeria. The insect is called Maruca pod borer and is known to cause up to 80% yield loss in cowpea fields. Cowpea The ...