The General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU) has emphasized the necessity for the government to prioritize resolving critical issues within Ghana’s agricultural sector instead of solely advocating for the commercialization of genetically modified products.
This call follows the recent endorsement of 14 new genetically modified products by the Ghana National Biosafety Authority (NBA), encompassing eight maize and six soybean variants.
In an interview, Edward Kareweh, the General Secretary of GAWU, voiced criticism towards the government’s apparent neglect of essential interventions aimed at enhancing the agricultural industry.
“Why don’t we encourage organic agriculture which has more quality and better nutritional value than GMO? And again, apart from that, if you take Ghana, what are our agricultural challenges? From production to distribution, what are our agricultural challenges? Today, as a country, our agricultural challenge is it about lack of GMO seeds in this country which is why we are not getting enough food?Kareweh remarked.
He underscored logistical obstacles such as inadequate road infrastructure, resulting in food wastage due to transportation delays.
Kareweh stressed the necessity for a comprehensive approach to tackle these challenges, rather than relying solely on promoting GMOs.
“The road network whereby most of our trucks when they go to the farm gates and bring the foodstuff, they get stranded and then the foods get rotten. We are not looking at that. And then thinking that by merely promoting GMOs, we will have food security in this country, is GMO going to be grown in space?”
