Miten bioteknologia on pidetty poissa Afrikasta?

[Heikki Jokipii]

Kysyy:

Viewpoint: As Africa faces climate change and farming disruptions, biotechnology-driven innovation offers hope. Why is it not more widely adopted?

Tämä on vain osa hänen vastaustaan, mutta mukana sekin (lihav. HJ):

The tepid reception is linked to crop biotechnology rejectionist campaigns, fronted by local activists but financed and guided by environmental groups in western countries.

[Heikki Jokipii]

Takapakkia:

As some East African nations embrace GMO corn imports, Burundi says ‘no’

The Burundi government has indicated that it will not allow the importation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into the country despite some East African Community member states opening up for the products.

“GMO is not allowed in Burundi, not even importing them; they are totally prohibited. It’s only the hybrids and even [for] the hybrids, you have to get an authorisation to import,” the director-general of mobilisation for self-development and agriculture extension Clement Ndikumasabo told The EastAfrican.

Kun samaan aikaan muualla Afrikassa edistyy jo GMO-viljely.

[Heikki Jokipii]

Vastustajien standardiselityksestä ei ole apua, kun etsitään syitä, miksi Kenia toimi näin:

Viewpoint: Massive drought, population rise, and lack of agricultural land spurred Kenya to embrace GMOs — not ‘corporate greed’

[Heikki Jokipii]

Englanniksi ilmestyneet. Ei tietoa paikallisilla kielillä ilmestyneistä. Tuo tutkimus siis osoitti, ettei tuollaista myyräntyötä muuntogeenistä viljelyä vastaan Afrikassa selvästikään ole lakattu harjoittamasta. Kahden vuoden aikana: aika systemaattiselta toiminta vaikuttaa. Vrt. myös edellinen puheenvuoro, ensimmäinen linkki.

Lisää tuosta:

Targeting the food insecure: Fake news about GMOs spreads misinformation to hundreds of millions of people

Two-Year Study Finds Large GMO Misinformation Affects Adoption of GM Crops

[Heikki Jokipii]

Terveisiä suoraan Nigeriasta:

‘Their joy knows no bounds’: Nigerian farmers welcome first harvest of disease-resistant genetically modified potatoes as a possible end to the ‘nightmare’ of late-blight potato disease

***

Yhdysvaltalainen professori soisi heidän elävän toisin:

Professor: Stop “Colonial” Agriculture, to Save Africa from Starvation and Climate Change

According to Professor William G. Moseley, if we balance the insects just right, Africans can live in happy little climate friendly agrarian villages rather than joining the modern world.

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Kaksiosainen kertomus Keniasta:

Part I: Analysis — Secret alliance: How Kenyan anti-GMO activists are scrambling to block President’s decision authorizing GM corn imports and local cultivation

Part II: Viewpoint — Kenyan protestors aggressively promote disinformation in campaign to scuttle GM crop imports and cultivation

[Heikki Jokipii]

Lisä disinformaatioon Keniassa ja Keniasta:

Ludger Wess uudelleentwiittasi
Mark Lynas
@mark_lynas·12t
GMO crops "are often seedless", reports @Reuters
 falsely. This common error shows just how prevalent misinformation is in media coverage of GM crops and foods, and illustrates why we found such high rates of media misinformation in our recent study.

Kenya's GMO maize push sowing trouble for food sector, farmers warn

Seuraavassa twiitissään Lynas kertoi huomauttaneensa Reutersille asiasta. Ja virhe korjattiin.

[Heikki Jokipii]

Afrikan tieteellinen eliitti asiasta:

GM crops safe and viable option for Africa, say African science academy experts

Over 90 experts from 25 National Science Academies converged in a three-day forum that took place in Nairobi, Kenya, from 28 to 30 November, 2022, under the auspices of the Network of African Science Academies (NASAC), to discuss and draw recommendations on how the continent can strengthen its capacity for sustainable agriculture and food systems.

Tuli nyt tässä puheenvuorossa vedottua arvovaltaan, huomaan. Mutta artikkelissa ja sen linkeissä löytyvät kyllä asialliset perustelutkin.

[Heikki Jokipii]

Tansaniakin on mukana:

Tanzania will ‘play a key role in GMO science despite the propaganda’

Several African scientists who are knowledgeable about GMO science argue that contrary to ongoing anti-GMO propaganda the actual threat to Africa’s seed systems and agriculture is not GMOs but rather the fear of them.

Dr. Daniel Maeda, a Tanzanian cellular biologist and biotechnology expert, is one such scientist.

Dr. Maeda, who doubles as a lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam, recently stated on the BBC’s Kiswahili Service that East Africa should harmonise GMO regulatory requirements in light of Kenya’s recent decision to lift a ban on GMOs and their importation.

Dr. Maeda believes that unfounded fears about GMOs and the use of genetic technologies should not stymie Africa’s agricultural development.

[Heikki Jokipii]

Kenia nyttemmin aika täysillä mukana:

Kenyan President Ruto defends lifting GM crop ban, says the country needs to follow international science consensus on their safety and benefits

[Heikki Jokipii]

Suuresta yleisöstä on myös kyse:

Kenyan GMO debate: ‘Widespread disinformation on GMOs and biotechnology makes the task of educating the public an onerous one’

[Heikki Jokipii]

Tämä on vielä hiukan kesken:

Viewpoint: Cost of misinformation — Nigeria spends over 40 million dollars a year importing cowpea. A GMO insect resistant version could save money and lives

Menestystarinalta se näyttää:

Viewpoint: ‘One of the greatest human accomplishments’ — GM insect-resistant cowpea quintuples yields without pesticides

Näyttää edelleen (14.02.22):

Nigeria farmers and consumers laud the high-yield GM cowpea for transforming livelihoods and bringing food security.

Tuo kasvi eli lehmänpapu mainittiin täälläkin.

[Heikki Jokipii]

Kenia nyttemmin aika täysillä mukana:

Kenyan President Ruto defends lifting GM crop ban, says the country needs to follow international science consensus on their safety and benefits

Tapahtuu naapurimaassa. Lihavointi HJ:

With Kenya’s tentative embrace of growing GM products, Uganda faces a resurgent anti-GMO movement. Here’s the havoc it’s causing and the activists behind it

What’s blocking the innovation surge?  The opposition that has led to the current block on research has more to do with superstition than science. The opposition is an alliance of religious groups, politicians, superstitious influences, and the most influential of all—technology rejectionism among local groups and the European-based environmental groups that have funded and guided them for years. As a result, the bulk of close to US$ 10m funding from the Gates Fouondation, USAID, the World Bank and other groups is now wasting-away.

[Heikki Jokipii]

Osataan kadulle mennä gemojen puolestakin:

Students join farmers, scientists in pro-GMO street demos

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GLP palaa muistelemaan tätä vanhaa tapausta:

20 years ago, Zambia ‘shocked the world’ by rejecting free corn to feed its starving population, claiming safety concerns because it was genetically modified. That freeze is thawing.

Mutta nyt asia näyttää siis toiselta. Sambian lisäksi tuolloin "aktivistit" hääräilivät myös Zimbabwessa.

Noihin aikoihin myös yhdistyksemme perustettiin (2003). Ja tällä palstalla oli monia ansiokkaita puheenvuoroja asiasta. Kriisihän jatkui pitkään. Valitettavasti puheenvuorot päätyivät palvelinkatastrofimme (2007) myötä "bittien taivaaseen".