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Optimism high as Uganda’s biotech bill gets “second chance”
Some Ugandan officials are optimistic that the nation’s biotechnology biosafety bill will soon pass, saying that President Museveni’s concerns have been addressed. “The president expressed concern on seven out of 44 clauses in the biosafety bill,” noted Kafeero Sekitoleko, chairman of Parliament’s Science and Technology Committee. “These have since been…
Access to ag tech key to empowering women in sub-Saharan Africa
Concepta Apako breathes heavily as she hoes away on her 1-acre garden in Abuket, a remote village in eastern Uganda. She’s been at it since dawn and clouds are gathering in the morning sky, potentially threatening her plans to plant an indigenous variety of corn to feed her husband and…
Improved crops hang in balance as Uganda’s Parliament revisits biosafety law
Farmers’ needs and at least four improved crops hang in the balance as Uganda’s Parliament reconvenes today to review President Museveni’s concerns about the nation’s biosafety bill.
Fact: Genetically modified crops safe for the environment, farmers and the consumers
I have been involved with public education about Genetically Engineered (GE also known as GMO) crops and food for 25 years. Reading today’s statements from non-governmental organizations that oppose GE crop technology, time appears to have stopped in 1999. This technology has been very successful in many countries for almost…
Kenya approves GMOs after 10-year ban
Kenya has approved genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and broken free from a decade-long ban on the technology, a move that could trigger a major shift towards evidence-based solutions to agricultural production by leadership in the continent. The stage is now set for the country’s farmers to realize the full…
GM crops can lift farmers out of poverty, study shows
On a continent where more than 80 percent of the people living in extreme poverty are rural farmers, some have managed to escape the grip of a hard-scrabble life through the use of improved seeds. Motlatsi Musi, a South African maize, beans and potato grower who considers himself…
Science Stories: Agriculture
Inspiration, passion and dedication characterized the personal stories that three 2019 Cornell Alliance for Science Global Leadership Fellows recently shared to explain why they are champions for agricultural biotechnology. Ruramiso Mashumba, a Zimbabwean farmer; Germaine De Runa, a rural outreach worker from the Philippines; and Slyvia Tawiah Tetteh, a women’s…
AfS at 5: Fire in their bellies
As we reflect this week on the first five years of the Alliance for Science, it’s apparent our greatest successes stem from the efforts of our Global Leadership Fellows Program alumni. As I previewed in my previous post, the Fellows are the core of our organization, using the “fire in…