{"id":1665,"date":"2018-09-03T17:21:53","date_gmt":"2018-09-03T09:21:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/?p=1665"},"modified":"2018-09-03T17:21:53","modified_gmt":"2018-09-03T09:21:53","slug":"ghanas-anti-gmo-farm-leader-adopts-pro-gmo-position","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/2018\/09\/03\/ghanas-anti-gmo-farm-leader-adopts-pro-gmo-position\/","title":{"rendered":"Ghana\u2019s anti-GMO farm leader adopts pro-GMO position"},"content":{"rendered":"

The former leader of the Peasant Farmers\u2019 Association, Ghana\u2019s primary anti-GMO farmers group, has switched sides to adopt a pro-GMO position.<\/p>\n

Mohammed Adams Nasiru attributed his shift to receiving accurate information on agricultural biotechnology from the scientific community.<\/p>\n

Nasiru was national president of the Peasant Farmers\u2019 Association of Ghana for almost a decade, from 2005 and 2014. He had previously backed the association\u2019s anti-GMO stance, and as recently as 2013 had publicly expressed fears about \u201ctaking those kinds of food.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Nasiru now disagrees with the group. \u201cA lot of us were misled into believing GMOs are bad, but now I know the truth. I am very comfortable with GMOs\u2026 I don\u2019t think there is any harm in going with GMOs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He claims those engaged in the anti-GMO activities are doing so because of the money they earn from such activities and don\u2019t seek the larger interest of farmers. \u201cThe campaign earlier was done by people getting money from somewhere and getting onto the street to make noise. But after this noise, we have met the scientific community in Ghana and outside. Some of us have understood what they are trying to explain. Those kicking against the technology have their own parochial interests,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are in the big city making the noise. I am speaking to you as a farmer who has gone through the bad weather, used bad seeds, and all\u2026\u201d Nasiru added.<\/p>\n

The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana has over the years taken a strong position against biotechnology, claiming \u201cGMOs are dangerous to health, are a leading cause of carcinogenic diseases, threat to environmental sustainability and threat to ownership of seeds by local farmers.\u201d The association, which boasts about 40,000 members, has repeatedly cautioned the Ghanaian public against consuming GM foods in press statements and has categorically opposed the technology during public forums.<\/p>\n

But now Nasiru says he was misled. \u201cSome people in Accra made us to understand GMOs were bad. Until we got OFAB (Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology) talking to us, coming to the grassroots to talk to us, that\u2019s when things changed\u2026,\u201d he told Alliance for Science in an interview.<\/p>\n

Following Parliament\u2019s passage of the Biosafety Act 2011, Ghana began conducting field trials of some GMO seeds, as required by the regulatory process before they are introduced onto the market. These include biotech cowpea and rice, which scientists say will be released onto the market soon. But some civil society organizations are demanding a halt in the processes, even seeking court action to block the crops. However, the state research body, Ghana\u2019s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), has insisted GMOs are harmless and needed to keep the country food secure.<\/p>\n

Nasiru is now asking Ghanaians to embrace such scientific innovations in agriculture. \u201cI just want to appeal to all and sundry, let your parents know that GMOs are not dangerous. If you don\u2019t know the science, you don\u2019t know anything. We want good yields,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

He is convinced the technology will make farmers better off. \u201cWe have seen farmers who are involved in this technology. They benefit. And their living standards are far better than those who are not embracing it. So I will urge colleague farmers to embrace the technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Richard Ampadu Ameyaw, Ghana OFAB coordinator, welcomed the news. \u201cThis inspires us to want to do more. It is important that we have to sensitize people. We need more people in the pool to be able to do these [outreach] exercises. It tells me clearly that people have wrong understanding of the technology. But when you explain things to them, they understand,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ampadu expressed concern there is too much misinformation out there confusing people about the technology. \u201cUnfortunately, the science community sat down and allowed the other group to go ahead of us. And that is what has created this problem. So the wrong information has gone ahead of us and we will do our best to correct the misinformation,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Source<\/strong>:\u00a0Alliance for Science – Cornell University<\/a><\/span><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The former leader of the Peasant Farmers\u2019 Association, Ghana\u2019s primary anti-GMO farmers group, has switched sides to adopt a pro-GMO position. Mohammed Adams Nasiru attributed his shift to receiving accurate information on agricultural biotechnology from the scientific community. Nasiru was national president of the Peasant Farmers\u2019 Association of Ghana for almost a decade, from 2005… Continue reading Ghana\u2019s anti-GMO farm leader adopts pro-GMO position<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-industry-news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nGhana\u2019s anti-GMO farm leader adopts pro-GMO position - agrinoon<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.agrinoon.com\/agriculture\/2018\/09\/03\/ghanas-anti-gmo-farm-leader-adopts-pro-gmo-position\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ghana\u2019s anti-GMO farm leader adopts pro-GMO position - agrinoon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The former leader of the Peasant Farmers\u2019 Association, Ghana\u2019s primary anti-GMO farmers group, has switched sides to adopt a pro-GMO position. 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