Biotechnology a Key Part of Uganda's Food Security Strategy
October 18, 2017| |
In a speech read for him by the 3rd Deputy prime minister Hon. Kirunda Kivejinja, President Yoweri Museveni yet again highlighted the critical role of modern biotechnology in ensuring sustainable food and nutrition security for the country's 38 million people. This was during celebrations to mark World Food Day (WFD) on October 16, 2017 in Rubanda District, South Western Uganda. WFD came just days after the country's parliament passed the National Biosafety Act, ending years of legislation on whether Uganda farmers can have access to genetically modified crops and other tools of modern biotechnology. Cognizant of the WFD's theme, Change the future of migration: Invest in food security and rural development, the president asserted the key relevance of modern biotechnology in providing safe and nutritious food not only to its citizens but also the 1.8 million refugees it currently hosts.
Speaking at the same event, the Director General of the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO), Dr. Ambrose Agona, commended researchers for their efforts in advocating for science to pass the Biotechnology Act. Going forward, NARO will now be able to conduct open field trials and National Performance Trials towards final deregulation and commercialization of a variety of food security crops that have been in the research pipeline for close to two decades.
For more information, please contact the coordinator UBIC at ubic.nacrri@gmail.com.
| |
Biotech Updates is a weekly newsletter of ISAAA, a not-for-profit organization. It is distributed for free to over 22,000 subscribers worldwide to inform them about the key developments in biosciences, especially in biotechnology. Your support will help us in our mission to feed the world with knowledge. You can help by donating as little as $10.
-
See more articles:
-
News from Around the World
- Global Hunger Index Shows Long-term Decline But Level Remains High
- Golden Rice to Lead the Way in Producing Healthier Rice Varieties
- Biotechnology a Key Part of Uganda's Food Security Strategy
- ITIF, Independent Scientists Call on US Interior Secretary to Reverse Policy Against GM Seeds
- Australian OGTR Receives Application for Commercial Release of GM Safflower
- Found: Gene to Help Hybrid Wheat Breeding
- Amazonian Farmers Discovered Secret to Wild Rice Domestication 4,000 Years Ago
-
Research Highlights
- Overexpression of BjHMGS1 Improves Health-Promoting Compounds in Tomato Fruit
- The Strawberry FaTPK1 Plays a Critical Role in Fruit Quality Formation
-
Beyond Crop Biotech
- Scientists Discover a Gene that Makes Fungi Pathogenic
- Zygote injection of CRISPR-Cas9 Modifies the Target Gene without Unwanted Effects in Pigs
-
Resources
- IPBO Fact Series on Cotton and Maize in Africa
- Updated Pocket Ks on Benefits of GM Crops
-
Plant
- CRISPR-Cas9-Mediated Targeted Mutagenesis in Seedless Grapes
- Discovery of MPK Roles in Rice by Characterizing CRISPR-Edited Mutants
-
Read the latest: - Biotech Updates (April 17, 2024)
- Gene Editing Supplement (April 10, 2024)
- Gene Drive Supplement (February 22, 2023)
-
Subscribe to BU: - Share
- Tweet