Archive for July, 2007

Will Annan Change Course on Crop Biotechnology?

When I, last week, took on Kofi Annan, the new chairman of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), in a blog post titled, “Mr. Annan is Wrong to Discredit GM Foods”, for suggesting that his organization would disregard modern crop biotechnology in its campaign against hunger and malnutrition in Africa, I expected [...]

Challenging the Green – Gene Revolution

By Dean Kleckner,
Chairman, Truth About Trade & Technology
The day after President Bush presented Norman Borlaug with the Congressional Gold Medal, the recipient of our country’s highest civilian honor described the great challenges that await agriculture in the 21st century: “persistent poverty and environmental degradation in developing countries, changing global climate patterns, and the use of [...]

Biotech crop sector sets standards, seeks to ease fears

By Carey Gillam
REUTERS Via Truth About Trade and Technology
July 25, 2007
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – U.S. biotech crop companies Wednesday unveiled a plan for new industry standards at a time when the sector faces unfavorable court rulings and concerns that lax government oversight is allowing contamination of crops used in food and animal feed.Leaders of [...]

Africa needs its own Green Revolution

By Douglas Southgate
Business Day Via AgBios
Thursday, July 26, 2007
WHEN the Green Revolution swept Asia after the mid-1960s with its high-yield seeds, fertilisers and other chemical inputs, and irrigation systems, hundreds of millions of people were saved from starvation. Africa cries out for such a revolution. The adoption of modern agricultural technology would go a [...]

Africa’s dilemma over GMOs

By Harrison Maganga
Kenya Times Via AgBios
July 25, 2007
African countries, particularly those in the COMESA and the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa(ASARECA)regions, are in dilemma as to whether or not to permit introduction of Genetically Modified Organisms(GMOs).
The rapid development and diffusion of biotechnology,especially in genetic engineering, is happening at a [...]

Mr. Annan is Wrong to Discredit GM Foods

I am dismayed by Kofi Annan’s recent remark on genetically modified foods. On a visit to Kenya last week, Mr. Annan, the immediate U.N. Secretary General and now the Chair of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), ruled out incorporating genetically modified foods, by his organization, in fighting food insecurity in Africa. [...]

Oniang’o Sees Urgent Need for Food Biotechnology in Africa

Conversations About Plant Biotechnology
July 23, 2007
Twenty-five percent of the undernourished people in the developing world are located in sub-Saharan Africa ; and according to FAO, approximately 35 percent of the population in 14 countries in the region are chronically undernourished. However, efforts to reduce hunger in this region have been hampered by a shortage [...]

Burkinabe farmer desires biotechnology for cotton fields

Issiaka Discusses Need for Improved Insect Control and Increased Yields
By Ranjana Smetacek
Burkina Faso in Western Africa is one of the poorest countries in the world. Less than one-fifth of the land is arable, yet 90 percent of the population is engaged in subsistence agriculture. Where possible, Burkinabe farmers such as Ouoba Issiaka focus their efforts [...]

Biotech is the future; we dare not be left behind

By FLORENCE WAMBUGU
Daily Nation
Publication Date: 2007/07/19
THE UNITED NATIONS University and the UN Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) last week appointed Nairobi a regional centre of expertise on education and sustainable development.
Nairobi becomes the first city in Africa to get such an award, joining 35 other global cities.
It adds to the many feathers [...]

GMO Seeds Benefit Environment

ACES News
July 10, 2007
URBANA - Genetically modified seeds that are resistant to a low-toxicity herbicide, glyphosate, have a positive environmental impact when compared to other technologies to combat weeds, according to a recent University of Illinois study.
“With the emergence of glyphosate-resistant (GR) weeds, the environmental consequences of alternatives to the use of genetically modified [...]