By Joyce Bedeley:
Secretary of Food Sovereignty Ghana, FSG, Mr. Kofi Adjei has dismissed suggestions from the group that minister-designate for agriculture was not worthy of the position due to his stance on Genetically Modified Foods. The secretary who spoke on Rite FM’s agro news said that the statement purportedly coming from the Food Sovereignty Ghana could not have been the official stance of the group but that of only a few members.
According to Mr. Adjei, his position on the issue of GMOs and Ghanaians in general however still remain that the country does not need those kinds of foods. He however maintained that that cannot be enough grounds to suggest that Dr Akoto Afriyie cannot perform and does not have the capacity to run the agriculture ministry.
‘The minister-designate has all the qualities fit for the job but all that some members of the group are saying is to refer to some statement made by Dr. Akoto Afriyie with regards to the GMOs which did not go down well with some members of the group and hence their position,’ Mr. Adjei noted.
“Ghana imports 150,000 metric tons of poultry products every year and most of that are coming from America, Brazil and Europe. Where do you think those chickens are fed from? They are fed from genetically modified grains. So, we are eating genetically modified food. Has anybody died? Genetically modified food is eaten in America and Ghana and everywhere through feeding grains to chickens and [other poultry produce] and we [Ghanaians] are eating it [as well]. Are we all dead? All the Americans would be dead by now,” Dr. Afriyie said at the time.
But jumping to the defence of the yet to be confirmed minister, the Food Sovereignty Ghana secretary attributed Dr Akoto Afriyie’s earlier stance to the fact that ‘he had no clear understanding of its effects and consequences at the time. Some of these consequences he noted include the fact that the country stands the risk of growing its own food but rather rely on foreign foods. This he added could affect the country’s foreign exchange.
He praised and welcomed the ‘operation feed yourself’ policy which Dr. Afriyie Akoto intends re-introducing.
He therefore called on Ghanaians to resist any government bent on food importation to local produce.
Food Sovereignty Ghana (FSG) had earlier strongly opposed the nomination of Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto as minister-designate for Food and Agriculture due is his stance on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). The group therefore called on President Akufo-Addo to drop his name for the slot, and on Parliament not to approve his nomination.
“Dr Afriyie Akoto has already demonstrated profound ignorance on the subject of GMOs and a shocking indifference to the lives and wellbeing of Ghanaians,” the group which describes itself as a movement dedicated to food sovereignty indicated.
Source: ritefmonline.org
