Biotech Updates

Botswana’s Agric Research Director Calls for the Use of Biotech

April 17, 2009

Botswana's Director for Agriculture Research, Pharoah Mosupi, has called for the use of biotechnology to address food insecurity in the country. Mosupi, who spoke in Gaborone at the opening of the Regional Agricultural and Environmental Initiatives Network (RAEIN) Africa workshop, said that modern biotechnology brings new challenges for the policy and regulatory framework in the country. Mosupi enumerated the factors that hinder Botswana's adoption of modern biotech. These include: lack of biotechnology policy and biosafety legal framework, inadequate infrastructure, funding issues and lack of public awareness.

The workshop was organized by Botswana's Agriculture Ministry in collaboration with RAEIN, a Namibia-based non-governmental organization.

The news article from Botswana Press Agency is available at http://www.gov.bw/cgi-bin/news.cgi?d=20090414&i=Bio-technology_to_stimulate_food_production