Ghana Government Encourages Farmers To Use GM

Date:04-15-2010

ACCRA, Ghana -- Web Ghana reports that Sherry Ayittey -- Ghanas Minister of Environment, Science and Technology -- advised African farmers at a workshop on Monday to adopt genetically modified products (GM) to increase food production to combat the effects of climate change and land-related problems. The four-day workshop,"Taxonomy Needs Assessment of Ghana", was held to review the draft of a policy on taxonomy of organisms and Ghanas biodiversity. Jointly sponsored by the government of Ghana and the United Kingdom Department of Environment and Rural Affairs, the workshop was attended by taxonomy experts from Togo, Benin, Nigeria and Burkina Faso, as well as 50 Ghanaian participants from research institutions and security agencies.

The legislation would make it legal for individuals and institutions to work with biotechnology, particularly gene transfer technologies. Ayittey said adequate measures had been taken to ensure that the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety in Biotechnology would be followed.