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Plant: Summit participants express varying views on GMOs




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TITLE:  SUMMIT PARTICIPANTS EXPRESS VARYING VIEWS ON GMOS

SOURCE: The Tide, Nigeria

URL:    http://www.thetidenews.com/article.aspx?qrDate=01/02/2007&qrTitle=Summit%20participants%20express%20varying%20views%20on%20GMOs&qrColumn=BUSINESS

DATE:   02.01.2007

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SUMMIT PARTICIPANTS EXPRESS VARYING VIEWS ON GMOS

Participants at a food summit have expressed varying views on the introduction of Genetically Modified Food (GMO) technology on the continent.

Wilson Selenge, a parliamentarian from Malawi, told Newsmen at the just-ended Food Security Summit in Abuja, that his country rejected GMO technology because it transferred foreign genes into local crops.

“When you produce maize or any other crop through GMOs you are applying a foreign gene, and that foreign element can be harmful to the body system”, he said.

According to him, if you therefore eat such food you will be damaging your body system, which can even lead to death.

Dr. Olaseinde Afrigbede, national coordinator, United and Medium Scale Farmers’ Association of Nigeria (USMESFAM), said that farmers in the country were against the used of GMO technology in food production.

He said that apart from being harmeful to the body “GMO technology is also destructive to the soil around where it is applied”.

“Where ever GMO food is grown, no other crop can grow in that soil, so it renders the enter surrounding useless,” he added.

He cited Argentina as one of the countries that had fallen victim of the use of GMO technology in the production of food, saying that Nigeria could not afford such a destructive venture.

Arigbede also said that the application of GMO technology was expensive for African countries to embark upon.

According to him, GMO technology is being promoted by Trans-National Organisations for their selfish interest.

However, Dr. Carol Marshal from South Africa, said that GMO technology was a fast way of mechanizing agriculture on the continent.

She said that it was the best and quickest way for Africa to attain food security, adding that it was acceptable and applicable in South Africa.

“If you say that GMO technology is harmful, is the assertion based on research result or speculations?

“Even if there are difficulties in understanding the technology on the continent is there anything in the world that is not associated with one problem or the other?” she asked.

She cited the cell phone as an example, saying that in spite of its side effect, it was still being used all over the world.

“We should weigh the advantages and disadvantages, and I think that the benefits are much higher”, she said.

According to her, there are a lot of unqualified fears about the GMO application in Africa, and the problem is that the fears are not evidence-based.

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