NAIROBI, July 26 (HANA)--Africa might in future be forced to consume genetically modified food products made from other continents if it failed to nature its own research capacity on genetic modification, a high-level panel of experts said here Wednesday.
The African Union (AU) high-level experts panel, set up to chart the course of biotechnology research in Africa said here Wednesday the African continent risked perpetual dependence on donor food aid unless it prepared itself to counter food shortage.
“We are talking in 2006, in 10 years time, we do not know what the future would have, if we found out that the rice imported from China was all Genetically Modified (GM), we would be forced to eat it,” said Mpoko Bokanga, a member of the high-level panel.
The AU set up the panel of 14 experts, to make recommendations on whether the continent should adopt GM research, arguing that African leaders needed unbiased research on the benefits and disadvantages of GM research before making a decision.
The panel includes senior Africans in the Diaspora, among them a former Vice-President of the World Bank, a Harvard University Professor and a senior South African entrepreneur who is the African President of Microsoft Corporation.
“The issue (GM research) is so controversial. The African Heads of State have heard a lot of statements about GM that they mandated the AU Commission to set up this panel to advise the leaders on a common stance on GM research,” Dr Bokanga said.
Speaking in Nairobi during a consultative conference to seek views from parliamentarians, Kenyan legislators said their local farmers were yet to benefit from months of GM research with several farmers losing key crops to viruses.
“We all depend on cassava for our daily bread but a disease that paralyses the plant from the root upwards has been the cause of concern for our farmers, we would like to be told how this can be controlled,” said Ocholla Ogur, a Kenyan lawmaker.
Kenyan legislators attending the three-day conference, which kicked off on Tuesday, said they would be dismayed by any plans to make their nation rely on externally manufactured research material to be adopted for implementation without the due expert knowledge.
But Dr Bokanga, the Executive Director Africa of the Nairobi-based African Agricultural Technology Foundation, said Africa was already too dependent on everything and that taking an early lead in scientific research was one way to ensure it does not become over dependent in the future.
“This panel needs to recommend what Africa needs to do. We must keep building on what we have already done, if we decide to stop now, we are going to condemn all the generations from developing their own technologies,” he said.
African leaders will hold the first-ever scientific conference early next year to discuss the GM research before a full Summit of the Heads of State convening in January 2007, finally endorses the proposals to be tabled by the 14-man panel. Enditem
