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Pass Plant Breeders Bill to combat poverty in Ghana – WACCI

The West Africa Center for Crop Improvement (WACCI) of the University of Ghana, Legon has urged Parliament to resume sitting on the Plant Breeders Bill and to pass it.

The bill which is at the consideration stage of Parliament has come under some attack by a pressure group, Food Sovereignty Ghana (FSG) in what it described as the “imposition of genetically modified organisms into the food chain.”

The group accused the bill of being designed in such a way “as to pre-empt the eventualities of government regulations such as those calling for the labelling of GM foods, or banning some of them for the sake of the environment or the health of Ghanaians.”

FSG called on Parliament to defer debate on the bill for a process of public consultation to be undertaken with regards to the introduction of GMOs into Ghana’s food chain.

But a joint statement by the West African Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) of the University of Ghana, Ghana National Association of Farmers and Fishermen (GNAFF), Ghana Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute (BNARI) of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) and the Cornell Alliance for Science, Cornell University, believe otherwise.

They claim the immediate passage of the bill will help the country end issues of poverty and to be able to address the needs of farmers.

In a petition addressed to the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Edward Doe Adjaho, the coalition called on him to ensure the House passes the bill into law.

 

Read full statement and petition below:

Press release

Friday, May 27, 2016

Issued on behalf of West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) of the University of Ghana, Ghana National Association of Farmers and Fishermen (GNAFF), Ghana Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute (BNARI) of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) and the Cornell Alliance for Science, Cornell University.

Details of the Petition to support the Plant Breeders Bill

Scientists, farmers and others supporting poverty reduction and agricultural improvement in Ghana have submitted a petition to the Speaker of Parliament to reactivate passage of the Plant Breeders Bill which is currently on hold.

There is an urgent need to pass the Plant Breeders Bill in Ghana in order to foster innovation so that plant breeders develop better varieties of crops for use by Ghana’s farmers. These crops might be drought-tolerant, climate resilient, higher yielding, pest or disease-resistant or have other benefits such as enhanced nutrient content.

The petition was produced and backed by an unprecedented coalition of scientific and farming organisations in Ghana, illustrating the importance attached by experts to the need to pass the Bill. This coalition was assembled partly in response to certain NGOs who have spread conspiracy theories and misinformation about the Bill in an attempt to prevent MPs from passing it.

“This Bill is an important measure to combat poverty in our country. Our farmers desperately need access to improved varieties of our staple crops. This is essential if we are to continue to modernise agriculture” remarked Professor Walter Sandow Alhassan, a former Director-General of the CSIR and one of the supporters of the petition. Professor Alhassan condemned the activities of anti-development NGOs who it appears prefer to promote the continuation of subsistence agriculture and associated rural poverty.

Professor Eric Yirenkyi Danquah, Director of the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement of (WACCI) of the University of Ghana, indicated in his comment accompanying the petition to the Hon. Speaker of Parliament, that “If the development of new varieties in Ghana is not underpinned by science and technology, the country will not attain food and nutrition security in our lifetime”. He adds that, “Passage of the Ghana Plant Breeders Bill will encourage investments for the development of superior varieties of staple crops urgently needed in farmers’ fields to spark a green revolution in the country. Let us support the Ghana Plant Breeders Bill”.

Dr. Hans Adu-Dapaah, a renowned Plant Breeder and former Director of the CSIR-CRI remarks, “Breeding takes a long time and a lot of resources to develop varieties. Efforts of breeders have to be recognized and rewarded. This will encourage development of more improved varieties tolerant to diseases, pests, heat, drought etc. for use by farmers to mitigate the effects of climate change”.

A post-graduate student in Plant Breeding at the University of Ghana, Prince Kpentey, remarks, “This bill if passed will be a great incentive protecting my rights as a young upcoming Plant breeder”.

The supporters of the petition also point out that Ghana is at risk of falling behind its competitors in the region without a plant breeders’ protection regime. Eight other countries – Kenya, Morocco, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe – have already passed a Plant Breeders Bill. Kenya has registered hundreds of new plant varieties, which contrasts with the slow release of plant varieties in Ghana.

Source: myjoyonline.com

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