Environmental News from Africa

EarthWire Africa provides a daily overview of the environment in Africa as reported in the media. The web site is updated every day by a team of editors that reviews media sources for environmental news stories.

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Food Security

How to engage with farmers over GM crops
SCIDEV.NET | 22 Feb 2012
he rapid uptake of genetically modified (GM) crops in developing countries poses a dilemma for agri-biotech programmes: when and how should researchers engage farmers in the process of developing crops?If farmers are engaged too early, they are likely to develop high expectations that the projects may not be able to meet. Engaging them too late may lead to low adoption of the technology.

FOOD: Rumpus over GM food aid
IRIN News | 18 Oct 2011
JOHANNESBURG 18 October 2011 (IRIN) - Genetically modified (GM) food aid bound for Africa has long been a bone of contention among governments, scientists, activists, consumers and aid workers.

South Africa | Food Security | Genetically Modified Organisms

Kenya's scientists urged to engage in GM debate
SCIDEV.NET | 16 Sep 2011
Kenya's secretary of state for agriculture says scientists should leave their 'comfort zone' and engage opponents of GM foods in public debate.

Kenya | Food Security | Genetically Modified Organisms

Drought Resistant Crops to Fight Famine in Ukambani
AfricaFiles | 03 Apr 2011
United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Kenya Horticulture Competitiveness Project are funding a new program to introduce drought resistant crops to fight famine in Ukambani.

Ghana: Government under pressure to adopt genetically modified crops
AfricaFiles | 30 Mar 2011
The latest call on Ghana to accept GM crops was made last week by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa, the technical arm of the African Union in matters of agricultural research. However, a rights-based advocacy NGO has kicked back against the report, arguing that GM crops are a threat to the survival of the country's agriculture.

Ghana | Agriculture | Economics and the Environment | Genetically Modified Organisms

Letters: How to boost food production in Africa
Guardian Unlimited | 07 Dec 2010
It is great that new research from Harvard University is challenging pessimistic views of Africa as a continent unable to feed itself (Africa can feed itself in a generation, says author, if leaders take up cause, 3 December). However, the expensive and failing technology GM should have no role to play in this - not even selectively.

Economics and the Environment | Farming Practices | Food Security | Genetically Modified Organisms

Patent grab threatens biodiversity and food sovereignty in Africa
Pambazuka News | 16 Nov 2010
Under the guise of developing climate-ready crops, the worlds largest seed and agrochemical corporations are pressuring governments to allow what could become the broadest and most dangerous patent claims in intellectual property history. A new report by ETC Group reveals a dramatic upsurge in...

Agriculture | Climate Change Adaptation | Food Security | Genetically Modified Organisms

IPS Inter Press Service – Telling Africa's Untold Stories » Could Water-Efficient Maize ...
ips.org | 28 Oct 2010
BULAWAYO – As controlled field trials of a genetically modified (GM) crop are about to begin in five African countries amidst promises of improved crops grown under poor conditions, critics are charging organisations of selling out the interests of African farmers. A team of scientists in the United States, Mexico, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa and Mozambique has developed water-efficient maize varieties under the Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) project.

Farming Practices | Food Security | Genetically Modified Organisms

Could Water-Efficient Maize Boost Africa's Food Security?
Inter Press Service | 21 Oct 2010
As controlled field trials of a genetically modified (GM) crop are about to begin in five African countries amidst promises of improved crops grown under poor conditions, critics are charging organisations of selling out the interests of African farmers.

AFRICA: Modified Banana Could Cure Deadly Disease
Inter Press Service | 12 Aug 2010
An innovation by researchers in Nigeria could be a cure for the devastating Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW) - responsible for annual losses in excess of 500 million dollars of crop across East and Central Africa. But it has also fuelled debate on the genetic engineering of crops in Africa. But...

Agriculture | Biotechnology | Genetically Modified Organisms

Years in the making, Kenya's GM law prepares to go live
SCIDEV.NET | 16 Jun 2010
With the approval of its biosafety bill, Kenya has finally opened the door to commercial GMOs — but some say the country is not ready. President Mwai Kibaki signed off parliament's approval of the biosafety legislation in February 2009, after a decade of controversy about the advisability of allowing the commercialisation of genetically modified organisms

Kenya | Biotechnology | Genetically Modified Organisms

Sweet genes arm banana crops
SCIDEV.NET | 14 Jun 2010
Anti-bacterial genes derived from sweet peppers are showing success in preventing bacterial wilt disease in GM bananas. Bananas are Uganda's leading non-cereal crop with some 70 per cent of the population depending on it as staple food. More than US$200 million has been lost to BXW infestation since 2001. The disease has also been reported in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania.

Uganda | Food Security | Genetically Modified Organisms

East Africa: Traditional Seeds Vital for Climate Change Adoption
AllAfrica.com | 24 May 2010
The continued use of modern seed varieties by small-scale farmers could eventually lead to the loss of traditional varieties that are more resilient to climate change.

Kenya | Agriculture | Climate Change Impacts | Genetically Modified Organisms

Burkina Faso: Le coton bt ' grande ?chelle en 2010
AfricaFiles | 06 Apr 2010
Burkina Faso is ranked 11th in the 2009 world report on GMO (Genetically Modified Organism) production, far behind the United States, Brazil, India, Canada and China. With its 115 000 hectares sown in 2009, a quarter of the surface area devoted to cotton, Burkina will likely make it into the top 10 producing countries of GMO cultivations with Bt cotton.

Agriculture | Genetically Modified Organisms

GM Should Not Just be Dismissed, Nor Just Accepted
Inter Press Service | 17 Jun 2009
After a protracted court battle of seven years, a small South African environmental organisation won a major legal victory against the multinational agri-chemical and seed giant Monsanto.

South Africa | Genetically Modified Organisms

Nigerian environmentalists call for end to GM cassava trials
Pambazuka News | 12 Mar 2009
The Nigerian government's alleged approval for field testing of genetically modified cassava plants by a US-based plant science centre puts Nigeria in danger of trading away its food future to colonialists under the guise of agricultural biotechnology, Friends of the Earth Nigeria/Environmental Rights Action (FoEN) have warned.

Nigeria | Agriculture | Biotechnology | Genetically Modified Organisms

Kenya approves GM after years of delays
SCIDEV.NET | 18 Feb 2009
Kenya has become the fourth African country to allow genetically modified farming after the president signed off on new biosafety legislation.

Kenya | Biotechnology | Food Security | Genetically Modified Organisms | National Policies and Environmental Laws

U.S - African Partnership Developing Drought-Tolerant Maize
america.gov | 27 Jan 2009
Biotechnology is a key component of a public-private partnership that could save millions of lives by developing drought-tolerant maize for small-scale farming operations in sub-Saharan Africa.

Agriculture | Biotechnology | Food Security | Genetically Modified Organisms

Is GM food the future for Africa?
africasia.com | 13 Jan 2009
Sir David King, until the end of 2007 the chief scientific adviser to the British government, thinks Africa is not able to feed itself because it has rejected GM crops.

Biotechnology | Genetically Modified Organisms

African Union support crucial for agricultural progress
SCIDEV.NET | 01 Dec 2008
The African Union's (AU) efforts to bring multinational companies and environmentalists together in a High-Level Panel on Modern Biotechnology is commendable, says an editorial in Nature.

Agriculture | Biotechnology | Genetically Modified Organisms

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