The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) has voiced its disappointment with the government’s decision to approve the commercialisation of 14 new Genetically Modified (GMO) products, including eight maize and six soya bean varieties.
This move, facilitated through the National Biosafety Authority (NBA), has been met with concern from the farmers’ group, which sees it as a betrayal of the government’s previous assurances.
The association’s statement highlighted fears that this development could signal the beginning of the end for Ghana’s control over its indigenous agricultural systems.
They argue that the commercialisation of GMOs serves the interests of multinational seed corporations like Bayer, Corteva, Syngenta, and Group Limagrain, which dominate the global seed market.
“While we find this development disturbing, we are not particularly surprised, as we predicted that neglecting the resistance of key stakeholders against the passage of the Plant Variety Protection Act, 2020, which was just a leeway and a canopy to allow the commercialisation of GMO products which are meant to promote the interest of four multinational seed companies; Bayer, Corteva, Syngenta and Group Limagrain that controls over 50% of the seed sector globally,” the statement read.
The farmers warn of the potential consequences, suggesting that reliance on multinational companies for seeds could compromise Ghana’s food sovereignty and public health.
They urge the government to consider the lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine crisis, which demonstrated the importance of maintaining control over national production systems, especially in the face of global uncertainties.
“The consequences of this approval are dire and mark the beginning of the loss of Ghana’s control of our indigenous agricultural system, leaving it in the hands and control of powerful multinationals, who can decide and dictate the pace of our food system.
“The experiences of COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine crises on food nationalism and protectionism should have given our leaders a hint of not sacrificing the control of a country’s production system, particularly seeds, into the hands of multinationals.
“We will gradually lose our own indigenous foods and seed varieties, while comprising our public health, through the production and consumption of these “deadly” foods,” the statement added.
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