Search Results
Nigerian farmers just can’t get enough of GMO cowpea seeds
Nigeria is witnessing a shortage of genetically modified cowpea seeds as farmer demand for the insect-resistant crop dramatically outstrips supply. Public sector scientists who developed the high-yielding variety have struggled to produce enough certified seeds to meet the huge demand as farmers who planted it in trials last year spread…
Scientific group says gene editing key tool for transforming global food systems
The United Nations Food Systems Summit’s Scientific Group has recognized gene editing as a key tool that can help transform global food systems to end hunger by 2030. The group also acknowledges genetic engineering as another important tool that the world should pay attention to because it can help reduce…
COVID-19 recovery is a chance to improve the African food system
The World Food Program has warned that the COVID-19 pandemic could cause one of the worst food crises since World War II. It predicts a doubling of the number of people going hungry — more than half of them in sub-Saharan Africa. While wealthier people stay inside and…
Nigeria makes history with GMO cowpea rollout
History was made today as Nigeria officially released genetically modified (GM) cowpea, which offers protection from the pod borer pest. It’s the first genetically modified (GM) food crop adopted in Africa outside of South Africa. The pod borer-resistant (PBR) cowpea — popularly known as beans in Nigeria — is resistant…
Farmers warn Mexico’s GM corn ban will raise food prices
Mexico’s farmer associations are teaming up and pushing back through legal battles in opposition to a presidential decree to ban genetically modified (GM) maize and glyphosate in Mexico by 2024. The Mexican government led by Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) has carried out a battle against scientific innovation…
Gene editing can prevent eucalyptus from becoming invasive
Gene editing can prevent eucalyptus — a tree highly valued in Kenya and elsewhere for its hardy timber, wood fuel and medicinal extracts — from invading native ecosystems, a team of international researchers has shown. Dr. Steve Strauss of Oregon State University led a team of scientists in the research,…
African farmers face new threats as invasive pests proliferate on a warming planet
Climate change is encouraging the proliferation of new crop insect pests that pose a serious food and financial threat to African farmers. From tree-drilling beetles to leaf-munching worms and fruit-puncturing flies, invasive pests are destroying food and inflicting financial ruin on farmers in Africa. Mango farmers in Southern Africa have…
Agroecology in Africa: Silver bullet or pathway to poverty?
A model of agroecology that limits farming inputs in Africa to solely indigenous materials is meeting resistance from farmers and others who worry it will most likely force even more people on the continent into poverty and hunger. “The agroecology promoters will use terms like indigenous foods, indigenous crops, indigenous…
Saving Africa’s agroecological food baskets from the agroecology movement
As agroecology activism increases within the global food system, many African communities involved in agriculture and food production, as well as consumers, are getting confused. This confusion stems from antagonism between the continent’s need for a green revolution — defined as access to improved seeds and modern pest management technologies, including…