No Ghanaian scientist, according to Dr. Richard Ampadu-Ameyaw, Senior Research Scientist at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) – Science and Technology Policy Research Institute (STEPRI), will develop a crop that is poisonous for Ghanaians to consume.
He stated that because Ghanaian plant breeders are also Ghanaians and have families, they won’t put other people’s lives in jeopardy.
He claimed that all Ghanaian plant breeders have been working on finding solutions to the country’s farmers’ agricultural issues.
Dr Ampadu-Ameyaw, who is also the National Coordinator of the Open Forum for Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB), said this in an interview with Graphic Online on the sidelines of a training programme organised for some selected agric journalists in the country in Tamale in the Northern Region.
The purpose of the three-day training, by Alliance for Science in partnership with CSIR-SARI, OFAB Ghana, and the Ghana Agricultural and Rural Development Journalists Association (GARDJA), was to update the participants on Ghana’s efforts to develop its genetically modified (GM) crops, especially the newly developed Pod Borer Resistant (PBR) cowpea (Bt Cowpea).
According to Dr. Ampadu-Ameyaw, it is concerning that some who are uninformed of the science behind GM technology spread the misconception that researchers are developing crops that could be harmful to people’s health.
He said, “GMO is not a chemical, it is nothing scary but a technology that is used to develop food crops based on the best species.”
He said although genetically modified technology had not been adopted in Ghana yet, it would serve as the best solution to food security.
“GMO will save farmers money as they will not have to spray their crops against diseases and pests. Currently, we are polluting the environment with the spraying of chemicals to prevent crops from being attacked. With GMO, the production cost of farmers will go down and their yields will go up,” Dr Ampadu-Ameyaw observed.