Farmer Leader in Ghana Shifts Support to Agri-biotech After Getting Facts

Mohammed Adams Nasiru, Former head of Peasant Farmers' Association in Ghana declared his stance to support agricultural biotechnology. The Association has been known as a critic of biotechnology. Nasiru shifted his support after receiving accurate information on the technology from the scientific experts on the field.

"A lot of us were misled into believing GMOs are bad, but now I know the truth. I am very comfortable with GMOs… I don't think there is any harm in going with GMOs," Nasiru said. He was the national president of the Association from 2005 to 2014 and has expressed strong opposition against biotechnology. After learning about the actual benefits of the technology, Nasiru revealed that biotech critics fail to seek the larger interest of farmers. "The campaign earlier was done by people getting money from somewhere and getting onto the street to make noise. But after this noise, we have met the scientific community in Ghana and outside. Some of us have understood what they are trying to explain. Those kicking against the technology have their own parochial interests," he said. "Some people in Accra made us to understand GMOs were bad. Until we got OFAB (Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology) talking to us, coming to the grassroots to talk to us, that's when things changed." he added.

Read the original article from the Cornell Alliance for Science.