Thomson Explains Slow Adoption of GM Crops in Africa

Why is there show adoption of GM crops in Africa? Dr. Jennifer Thomson, Professor of Molecular Biology  from the University of Cape Town in South Africa provide reasons in an article published on The Conservation.

According to Dr. Thomson, South Africa have been planting GM crops since 2000. They are currently growing GM maize, soybean, and cotton. Burkina Faso started planting Bt cotton in 2007. Of the 648,000 hectares planted in Burkina Faso in 2014, more than half or 73% were GM. Sudan started planting Bt cotton in 2012, being the latest biotech country in Africa. No other country in the continent has adopted GM crops since then. Dr. Thomson explains that the main reasons for such condition are political and economic. She said that the negative attitude towards GM in Europe have influenced African politicians. Many African countries are also afraid that adopting GM crops would affect trade with other countries, especially in Europe where a number of countries have banned the importation of GM products.

Read the complete article from The Conversation.