NEPAD USING SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION TO HIGHLIGHT THE IMPORTANCE OF GMO TECHNOLOGY IN ZAMBIA AMIDST CONTROVERSE

 NEPAD USING SCIENCE,TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION TO HIGHLIGHT THE IMPORTANCE OF GMOs AGENDA IN ZAMBIA AMIDST CONTROVERSY 


By Alfonso Kasongo 
Attempts to make Zambia as a 'GMO' country   have continued to spark debate among key stakeholders since 2002.

However, the country is once again faced with controversy as it is on the verge of enacting a new national biotechnology and biosafety policy, barely 20 years after Second Republican President Levy Mwanawasa refused to accept the International food aid when the southern African region faced famine because it contained GMOs.

The answers to who is behind the GMO agenda for Zambia remain unknown, however, the participation of the African Union Development Agency AUDA-NEPAD in the amendment process has the potential to give direction to who is responsible for the agenda. 

And participating at the National Validation meeting of the new draft policy on September, 7 this year, AUDA-NEPAD representative, Dr. Silas Obukosia assured the Zambian government support of the new policy and the Act itself both technically and financially, further, promising to work with the government in the entire process by prioritising science, technology and innovation.

Dr  Silas Obukosia ,Principal Programme Officer  and Cordinator Nairobi-AUDA-NEPAD encouraged the government to double up its efforts as a number of African countries have switched and embrace gene technology in agriculture.



Meanwhile,the Zambia Alliance for Agroecology and Biodiversity (ZAAB),An advocacy network of faith-based organisations, farmers and civil society organisations, committed to a common cause of realising a just and sustainable food and agro-ecological system in Zambia reiterates that the GMO agenda in Zambia is being propelled by an invisible hand.
The Alliance National Coordinator Mutinta Nketani maintains that the enacting the new draft policy in its current framing will trigger the introduction of live GMOs in Zambia's agriculture.
Ms Mutinta says, the Alliance is further investigating the force behind the new Biotechnology and Biosafety policy and what it wants to achieve. 



Comments

THE EDITORIAL NEWS said…
What is your take on the GMO agenda and the participation of NEPAD.?
November 6, 2022 at 1:44 PM
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