Tag Archives: Genetically modified food in Africa

The new drought-tolerant maize trait, MON 87460, has been approved by the Executive Council of the GMO Act for conditional general release in the Republic of South Africa. This trait will be sold under the brand name, “DroughtGard.” “The approval for general release is a significant step in bringing this valuable technology to all farmers in South Africa,” said Kobus Steenekamp, ...

Non-governmental and farmer organisations from South Africa, Tanzania, Mozambique, Kenya and Uganda have condemned the go-ahead given by the South African GMO authorities for Monsanto to commercially sell its genetically modified (GM) “drought-tolerant” maize seed for cultivation in South Africa. According to the groups, there is no evidence showing that the drought tolerant trait even works. The organisations include: African Centre ...

The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), a Pan African platform comprising civil society networks and farmer organisations working towards food sovereignty in Africa, has submitted an Open Letter to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Dr. Wendy White from Iowa State University and the Human Institutional Review Board of Iowa State University, expressing fierce opposition to the human ...

Experts at the Africa Climate Change conference in Marrakech, Morocco have restated Africa’s capacity to feed itself now and in the future without genetically modified organisms. They however warned that it would require increased investment in climate change research, development and innovation to make technology accessible and affordable for farmers, to enhance opportunities for easy access to agricultural finance and ...

The recent article, GM scaremongering in Africa is disarming the fight against poverty, published in the Guardian’s PovertyMatters Blog on 21 July 2014, is a thinly veiled attack on those of us in Africa and elsewhere who are deeply skeptical of the supposed benefits that genetically modified (GM) crops will bring to the continent. Based on a report by London-based ...