NEW NATIONAL BIOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOSAFETY POLICY DRAFT CONTENT STILL WORRIES ZAAB

By Alfonso Kasongo 

Zambia Alliance for Agroecology and Biosafety (ZAAB) says that there is still great concern about the content of the new draft of the national biotechnology and biosafety policy despite it undergoing validation process.

ZAAB National Cordinator Mutinta Nketani discloses that the new national biotechnology and biosafety policy draft is under validation  process at district level and that the Alliance has not been engaged following its cut off from the process in the early stages of the process. 

Ms Nketani reiterates that the introduction of live  Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) into agriculture given the restrictions imposed by GMO property rights and the contamination of Zambian indigenous seeds remain some of the threatening concerns  

Addressing some farmers and traditional leaders during a holistic land management conference in Lusaka Ms Nketani explains that the framing of the draft policy promotes the introduction of GMOs in the agricultural sector. 

Meanwhile she indicated that the Alliance members were involved in the review of the national biosafety policy in its early stages despite its voice cut because of its concern about  the content of the draft national biotechnology and biosafety policy about 3 years ago.

ZAAB, an Alliance of  civil society organisations, faith based organisations   private institutions advocates for citizens’ rights to food sovereignty, embedded within an ecological and socially just Zambia.

It supports the adoption of agroecology as a holistic, citizenry solution to sustainably build Zambia’s food and farming systems and strengthen resilience against climate change. 

ZAAB also advocates for the recognition of farmers rights as espoused in the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRF) and the United  Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and othe People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP).

ZAAB National Cordinator Mutinta Nketani 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ZAAB QUESTIONS GOVERNMENT'S SILENCE ON PBR BILL

Image
  ZAAB QUESTIONS  GOVERNMENT'S SILENCE ON PBR BILL  By Alfonso Kasongo  A collaborative network of concerned citizens, civil society groups, faith and farmer-based organisations, working together to strengthen the growing movement for agroecology and food sovereignty has questioned government's failure to avail the proposed new Plant Breeders Rights (PBR) Bill.  Zambia Alliance for Agroecology and Biodiversity (ZAAB) maintains that controversial Bill is inappropriate for the country and must not be enacted as it aligns the country to the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) 1991 standards. The Consortium fears that once proposed PBR Bill is enacted in its current form, the new seed law may trigger price increase and corporate capture of seeds, as well as  country's food system.  The Alliance argues that government through the Seed Control  Certification Institute SCCI  has never presented the actual changes and amendments in the draft PBR
Read more

ZAMBIA'S CLIMATE FINANCING UTILISATION LACKS TRANSPARENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY

Image
ZAMBIA'S CLIMATE FINANCING UTILISATION LACKS TRANSPARENCY,  ACCOUNTABILITY ...hence prone to corruption risks,posing threats against building climate change resilience, TIZ report reviews. By Alfonso Kasongo Zambia's quest to remain climate change resilient might veer off course, if gaps such as weak climate regulatory frameworks, corruption risks and lack of transparency in the management of climate financing remain unaddressed. Ànd tackling of how the country supports mitigation and adaptation to climate change remain critical to building resilience to the worst effects. Climate resilient is generally defined as successfully copying with and managing the impacts of climate change while preventing those impacts from growing worse. This year's unprecedented global temperatures and stark devastating of climate change stress the urgency requirement for Zambia and many other countries to build climate resilience, hence the need for strong regulatory framework and transparency
Read more

ZAMBIA LISTED AMONG 34 COUNTRIES WORLDWIDE THAT EXPERIENCED DIGITAL AUTHORITATIVE RULE

Image
  By Alfonso Kasongo  The shutdown of internet to block access to social media during the 2021 general election has earned Zambia a slot among 34 countries worldwide that experienced digital authoritative rule last year. According to a research conducted by Keep It On ,182 internet shutdowns from 34 countries were last year recorded and are documented. Sadly 19 of the 34 countries are African countries, an indication of the return of the digital authoritatism. The report  discloses that the Zambian authorities shutdown the Internet during the the tight 2021 general election to block access to social media platforms which  include among others WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.   The report however ,suggests that the country experienced digital authoritative rule which undermined the democracy of the country.    It further notes with pleasure that the shut down was fought swiftly by Chapter One Foundation through the court of law and that the High  Court ruling remains a precede
Read more