Tanzanian Stakeholders Call for Modern Cotton Production

Scientists in Tanzania want the strict Liabilities Act under the Environmental Management Act (2004) repealed to enable them to start research on how the country can start using genetically engineered crops.

Speaking to Daily News on 13 April 2013, in Dar es Salaam, the chief researcher at Bio Self, Mr. Peter Bagenda, urged that the government should institute a policy that allows agricultural scientists to conduct research and trials on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in different research centers. Bagenda made those remarks at a meeting convened by the Ministry of State in the Vice- President's Office responsible for Environment in Dar es Salaam, for stakeholders across the country . He added that the Act under the Environmental Management Act does not allow the application of such research and that it should therefore be amended." Notably, Tanzanian stakeholders view cotton as the first crop in which genetic engineering should be introduced, to revive the sector, scale up production six-fold, among farmers and enable profitable exports.

On their part, the Tanzania Cotton Board maintains that the introduction of Bt cotton could be one of the main avenues to increase yields via the introduction of the licensed germplasm to the country's cotton. The other avenue in seed breeding is to develop new hybrid seeds according to various growing zones.

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