Embracing Genome Editing (GEd) technologies will empower vulnerable communities against the adverse effects of climate change and boost the efforts of African countries at attaining food and nutritional security, scientists have said.
Dr Francis Djankpa, a Cellular and Molecular Neuroscientist, who made the call, said developing countries, particularly those in Africa, must embrace biotechnology to help in transforming the agricultural sector for increased food production and growth.
That would not only help build resilience of communities against climate change impact, but contribute to boosting food systems, reducing hunger, increasing income levels of farmers and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Dr Djankpa, also a Senior Lecturer at the University of Cape Coast (UCC), made the call on the sidelines of a two-day training workshop for Ghanaian GEd communicators held in Accra.
The training was organised by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) with support from the Af
rican Union Development Agency-NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD) as part of the implementation of the GEd project.
The GEd is precisely changing the molecular formula (genome) of living organisms, thus plants and animals, for positive purposes, particularly for increasing yields and quality of crops for the end users.
The Cellular and Molecular Neuroscientist indicated that drought and floods resulting from erratic rainfall and changing weather patterns continued to affect the yields of farmers, throwing many out of business.
He noted that genome editing technology had the potential to change the genes of many crops such as maize, rice, yam, soyabean, and cassava to make them resistant to drought and floods while increasing quality and yields of those crops.
‘If we don’t move quickly to adapt with climate change, then very soon there will be food shortage everywhere in Ghana and other parts of the world, but GEd has the capacity to actually produce crops that will resist either drought or flood,’ he said.
The Senior Le
cturer allayed public fears on safety, saying that apart from the GEd technology being environmentally friendly, products produced through that were safe for consumption and provided improved nutrients.
He said many countries globally were moving at a faster pace with new technologies and countries like Ghana needed to embrace such technologies to avoid lagging.
Dr Samuel Mahama, a Senior Research Scientist, CSIR, said Ghana spent huge sums of money importing certain food products such as rice, poultry, and soya beans and that adopting the GEd would help increase yields and cut down imports.
That, he said, would contribute to increasing foreign reserves, increasing income levels of farmers and contributing to stabilising the economy.
Dr Seth Manteaw, the Director, Institute of Science, Technology and Information, CSIR, noted that the Council had the human resources and some infrastructure ready to lead the GEd technology concept and needed the government to invest more in the sector to fully harness its b
enefits.
He indicated that some universities had started with the Ged curriculum so AUDA-NEPAD was trying to see how it could integrate the students well enough into its curriculum.
Source: Ghana News Agency