Is Ghana Ready to Embrace GMOs for Agricultural Advancement and Food Security?

Is Ghana ready to take advantage of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and the associated technologies and best practices in the agriculture sector, or should Ghana continue to lag behind after other countries and jurisdictions have reaped the full benefits of these genetic engineering techniques to boost agricultural production, among others?

In the face of the distorted narrative in Ghana, which primarily focused on the propagation of doom for Ghana’s indigenous crop seed and scary health-related messages such as GMOs being attributed to health issues such as cancer, the work of the Open Forum on Agricultural Technology (OFAB) and its stakeholders towards horning the immense benefits of GMOs in crops and plants for Ghana, farmers, and food security deserves the collaboration of the government, government agencies in agriculture, and universities into agricultural education, among others.

After the world-greeted emergence of GMO technology in 1973 through the effort of biochemists Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen, it has taken 51 years for Ghana to see the approval of its first-ever GMO crop, PBR cowpea, getting government approval in July 2024.

At a sensitization workshop organized by OFAB at the Coconut Groove Regency Hotel in Accra, OFAB and stakeholders shed light on important facts backed by research that demystified the assertions about GMOs and provided critical education for participants drawn from the media fraternity.

The workshop which targeted bloggers, influencers and media houses, aimed at bringing clarity on biotechnology issues in Ghana, the regulations on biotechnology in Ghana and the status of the PBR Cowpea (Beans) in Ghana, as well as the benefits of the technology.

Speaking at the workshop, Dr. Daniel Osie Fosu, Coordinator, Programme for Biosafety Systems, revealed that GMO seeds are highly regulated globally, and in Ghana, the same is done before any seed is certified. It came to light that such seeds spend not less than seven years in the process of attaining certification.

He added that such seeds do not make it to farmers or even the market as grains until further rigorous processes and requirements are certified by the National Biosafety Authority (NBA) and other relevant stakeholders, such as the Foods and Drugs Authority (FDA), who were all present at the workshop to shed light on their roles in ensuring the rigorous processes put in place and the needed checks and balances are adhered to to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of the processes are safeguarded, guaranteed, and achieved in all instances before any GMO seeds are approved for Ghana.

Contrary to perceptions and myths about the dangers of GMOs in Ghana, Dr. Daniel Osie Fosu confirmed that, up until now, Ghana has only approved one GMO seed in July 2024 to allay fears and misinformation making the rounds on the matter.

PBR Cowpea (i.e., Songotra T): Ghana’s first GMO seed approved in 2024

Madam Gloria Adazebra, a member of the PBR Cowpea Team (CSIR SARI), who worked on the only approved GMO seed commonly known as PBR Cowpea, informed the workshop attendees that while the population in Africa is increasing and needs to be supplied with more food resources, agricultural production and land available for agriculture are inversely related to population growth.

This, she added, calls for better ways to increase crop yields and quality to meet the food supply needs of Africa and Ghana by tapping into the tried and tested GMOs, which help produce better seeds for farmers to help deal with deficiencies associated with farmers cultivating ordinary seeds that may not be resistant to pests, nutrient deficient, and less yielding, among others.

She also echoed the fact that Ghana has a competent authority in place to ensure world-class safety and processes are adhered to to guide the development of GMOs for the country and allayed the fears of participants and the general public.

While enlightening participants at the workshop, Madam Gloria Adazebra added that the information out there that GMOs harm bees, butterflies, and other pollinators remains a myth.

Ghana’s first-ever GMO seed, the PBR Cowpea (i.e., Songotra T), is the second to be released in West Africa after that in Nigeria.

Ghana’s food security is under threat

Given the continuously altering vagaries of the weather, land fertility, associated drought, and dwindling size of agriculture, Ghana’s food security is under threat.

While food security has to do with access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets the basic dietary needs and preferences for a healthy life, data on food security paints a gloomy picture of the current state. Food insecurity in the Upper East, North East, Northern, Upper West, and Savannah is 48%, 33%, 30.7%, 22.8%, and 22.6%, respectively, and as high as 71.4% in Tarkwa-Nsuaem in the Western Region. These statistics paint a gloomy picture of food insecurity.

What are the objectives of Open Forum on Agricultural Technology (OFAB)?

1. To establish and manage a range of platforms to enhance understanding of biotechnology in agriculture for productivity.
2. To contribute to informing policy decision-making processes in matters of agricultural biotechnology through the provision of factual, well-researched, and scientific information.
3. To forge a strategic alliance for the optimization of resources through convening and encouraging inter-institutional networking and knowledge sharing in the agricultural biotechnology space.
4. To enhance targeted capacity strengthening that will improve communication across all sectors interested in biotechnology for African agricultural development.

GMOs hold the key to contributing to the reduction in food insecurity; they have been proven to be safe to eat just as the other existing conventional seeds are in their natural state by the World Health Organization and other well-known global organizations. With the effort of OFAB, Ghana is getting ready to embrace GMOs for Agricultural Advancement and Food Security as it continues to educate stakeholders.