Biotech Updates

FAO to Southern Africa: Accept GMOs

April 20, 2012

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said that Southern African countries such as Zambia should accept genetically modified organisms (GMOs), especially with the present adverse weather patterns.

Prof. Louis Bockel, FAO climate change expert, said that Southern African farmers need to adopt new technologies to survive unpleasant climate changes. He added that "with climate change, you need to diversify into more resilient crops, plants that are water-efficient or drought-tolerant."

Wynter Kabimba, Zambia's secretary general, would not accept GMOs, saying they are dangerous to food security and the environment. But Professor Bockel said that fears about GMOs and their effects on national food security must be demystified.

More details are available at http://www.ofabafrica.org/news_article.php?id=75.