East African Business Week (Kampala)
Dar es Salaam — Tanzania has been advised against embracing genetically modified Organism GMO) food products in the country.
Speaking exclusively to East African Business Week in Dar es Salaam last week, Mr. Elias Mtinda, the Agriculture and Food Security Advisor of the ActionAid Tanzania, said there is a need for the government to make its own decision without being influenced by bigger companies on decisions regarding the approval of the use of GMO food products.
(The food Security and Advisor with Action Aid Tanzania Mr Elias Mtinda explaining on the effects of GMO's products Photo By Kenan Kalagho)
Mtinda said conglomerate companies which are involved in producing GMO's seeds like the Monsanto's and Bill Gates's firms are aimed at sourcing market for their products even if such products may have adverse effects on human beings.
"We need to make our own analysis as a country and see whether there is a need to adopt GMOs in Tanzania especially considering the good agricultural environment we have in our country," said Mtinda.
He added warned that using the GMO's seeds would in the country may disrupt the traditional system whereby farmers usually select seeds that can be planted more than just twice where as the GMO seeds can only be used once.
Mr Mtinda also noted that while the GMO's being introduced in most of the African countries comes with an umbrella of biotechnology with a view of solving problems of food security in the region, such foods had an adverse effect on human beings.
It is understood that GMO foods were being banned in most of European and Western countries as a result of the effects it has on human beings while a number of African countries are on the verge of accepting the GMO's as a result of food shortages the continent faces due to climate change.
"Tanzania and Africa at large need to do a thorough research on these GMO foods to see the effects such food have on human beings before accepting these projects to be undertaken into their respective countries," Mtinda said.
According to him, the issue was not about whether Tanzania needed to adopt the use of GMOs but rather what the country needs is to put into place the best agricultural practices in order to realize food security in the region at large.
"Tanzania has a vast alluvial land suitable for all sorts of crops, Mtinda said. "What we need to do is to invest in agriculture and help small farmers have access to agricultural inputs like fertilizers and modern seeds that can enable them produce more for sale."
"Farmers need not to be told to grow more crops if they are assured of their market," Mtinda said and added that the government needs to invest more in agriculture by making sure that research institutes in the country are well supported so that their findings can help to solve different problems related to farming and agriculture practices in the country".
"We have different agriculture research centers which conduct their research on pest resistant crops as well as drought resistant crops and these research centers need to be fully utilized, if we are to realize a high agricultural production and beat food shortages in the country" Mtinda said.
The Principal Agricultural Research Officer in the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security Dr Omary Mponda said that Tanzania is in a process of creating standard laws so that whatever products and or technology are being adopted in the country does not bring effects to the users.
Dr Mponda said that government was not in a position to accept any technology if such technology negatively affects to the majority of the consumers of the products.
"We cannot allow something that we know, will bring adverse effect to our people, Mponda stressed and added, Tanzania through Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) is conducting trials about the biotechnology foods and until those trials are confirmed, they will not be adopted."
He added that the reason for most of European and Western countries to ban GMO products is because such products have genes which are inserted into crops while in the field in order to prevent such crops from being attacked by pests and that such genes can be transferred to human beings upon consumption of such foods.
Early this year during the international conference on sustainable intensification of cereal-based farming systems in Eastern and Southern Africa, organized by International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Minister for Agriculture and Food Security Prof. Jumanne Maghembe said that Tanzania is considering to open doors for GMOs.
He said the decision was aimed at wooing investors and international partners in the bio-technology industry which in turn would ease the scarcity of food in the region and make a larger percentage of people to be free from hunger, a thing that is being opposed by anti GMO activists such as ActionAid, SwissAid, and other organizations due to the effects such crops have to human beings.
Speaking exclusively to East African Business Week in Dar es Salaam last week, Mr. Elias Mtinda, the Agriculture and Food Security Advisor of the ActionAid Tanzania, said there is a need for the government to make its own decision without being influenced by bigger companies on decisions regarding the approval of the use of GMO food products.
Mtinda said conglomerate companies which are involved in producing GMO's seeds like the Monsanto's and Bill Gates's firms are aimed at sourcing market for their products even if such products may have adverse effects on human beings.
"We need to make our own analysis as a country and see whether there is a need to adopt GMOs in Tanzania especially considering the good agricultural environment we have in our country," said Mtinda.
He added warned that using the GMO's seeds would in the country may disrupt the traditional system whereby farmers usually select seeds that can be planted more than just twice where as the GMO seeds can only be used once.
Mr Mtinda also noted that while the GMO's being introduced in most of the African countries comes with an umbrella of biotechnology with a view of solving problems of food security in the region, such foods had an adverse effect on human beings.
It is understood that GMO foods were being banned in most of European and Western countries as a result of the effects it has on human beings while a number of African countries are on the verge of accepting the GMO's as a result of food shortages the continent faces due to climate change.
"Tanzania and Africa at large need to do a thorough research on these GMO foods to see the effects such food have on human beings before accepting these projects to be undertaken into their respective countries," Mtinda said.
According to him, the issue was not about whether Tanzania needed to adopt the use of GMOs but rather what the country needs is to put into place the best agricultural practices in order to realize food security in the region at large.
"Tanzania has a vast alluvial land suitable for all sorts of crops, Mtinda said. "What we need to do is to invest in agriculture and help small farmers have access to agricultural inputs like fertilizers and modern seeds that can enable them produce more for sale."
"Farmers need not to be told to grow more crops if they are assured of their market," Mtinda said and added that the government needs to invest more in agriculture by making sure that research institutes in the country are well supported so that their findings can help to solve different problems related to farming and agriculture practices in the country".
"We have different agriculture research centers which conduct their research on pest resistant crops as well as drought resistant crops and these research centers need to be fully utilized, if we are to realize a high agricultural production and beat food shortages in the country" Mtinda said.
The Principal Agricultural Research Officer in the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security Dr Omary Mponda said that Tanzania is in a process of creating standard laws so that whatever products and or technology are being adopted in the country does not bring effects to the users.
Dr Mponda said that government was not in a position to accept any technology if such technology negatively affects to the majority of the consumers of the products.
"We cannot allow something that we know, will bring adverse effect to our people, Mponda stressed and added, Tanzania through Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) is conducting trials about the biotechnology foods and until those trials are confirmed, they will not be adopted."
He added that the reason for most of European and Western countries to ban GMO products is because such products have genes which are inserted into crops while in the field in order to prevent such crops from being attacked by pests and that such genes can be transferred to human beings upon consumption of such foods.
Early this year during the international conference on sustainable intensification of cereal-based farming systems in Eastern and Southern Africa, organized by International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Minister for Agriculture and Food Security Prof. Jumanne Maghembe said that Tanzania is considering to open doors for GMOs.
He said the decision was aimed at wooing investors and international partners in the bio-technology industry which in turn would ease the scarcity of food in the region and make a larger percentage of people to be free from hunger, a thing that is being opposed by anti GMO activists such as ActionAid, SwissAid, and other organizations due to the effects such crops have to human beings.
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