Bt Cotton Study Tour in Burkina Faso by Stakeholders from Eastern and Southern Africa

A delegation from seven African countries representing eastern (Ethiopia, Kenya, Northern Sudan and Uganda) southern (Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe) made a study tour to the Bt cotton fields in Burkina Faso from 14 to 17 November 2011. The delegation comprised of farmers, researchers, legislators, ginners, journalists and biosafety regulators visited Bt cotton fields in the Western part of Burkina Faso, in the regions of Houndé and Bobo-Dioulasso.

The 2011 annual study whose theme focused on post-commercialization and stewardship issues afforded participants with an opportunity to get familiar with the experiences and challenges of commercialization of Bt cotton in Burkina Faso. They received a detailed brief by SOFITEX, the local cotton company, on how it has established different mechanisms to provide extension services to farmers for the last three years of commercialization of Bt cotton in the country. The participants expressed appreciation for the opportunity to learn what Burkina Faso has done in Biotechnology.

"The most significant part of this study tour for me was the encounter with farmers themselves, seeing their fields, some of their homes and hearing from the horse's mouth what Bt cotton has done for them," said Mr. Chris Kakunta, a Zambian journalist. The tour was organized by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) AfriCenter in collaboration with the Program for Biosafety Systems, the Common Market for Eastern and Central Africa (COMESA/ACTESA) and Monsanto.

For more information contact Dr. Margaret Karembu, director of ISAAA Africenter, at m.karembu@cgiar.org