According to the Soya Value Chain Association of Ghana (SVCAG), the commercialization of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) seeds for soya beans will affect numerous peasant farmers engaged in cultivation.
The kick against the government’s attempt, the Association reiterates, is to safeguard the country’s pride from being contaminated while preserving the natural state of the beans — and to prevent the possible loss of peasant farmers’ livelihoods should the government go ahead with its plan.
Speaking at a press briefing held in Accra on Friday, 30th May 2024, the Executive Secretary of the Soya Value Chain Association of Ghana, Mr. Yaw Afrifa Anim, decried the possible destruction of Ghanaian non-GMO soybean production.
An immediate and pragmatic response is needed, he said, to protect the host of peasant farmers engaged in the cultivation.
“The Ghanaian non-GMO soybeans production is the niche market and when lost, it will result in massive unemployment,” the Association revealed.
Mr. Afrifa Anim reiterated that Ghana risks losing from GMO soya bean cultivation.
Aside from struggling to raise money for land preparation, irrigation, mechanization, inputs, services and warehousing, he disclosed that peasant farmers will face difficulty raising the dollars needed to import soya beans for cultivation, since harvested seeds will not be viable for replanting.
Given the growing concern, the Association has outlined six ways the country stands to lose should GMOs be commercialized.
SVCAG strongly believes that Ghana will lose the non-GMO soya beans niche market, and fears a possible collapse of the domestic market as consumers demand non-GMO soya beans.
The Association disclosed that GMO seeds will push smallholder farmers out of business.
The rest, according to the SVCAG, include increased unemployment, the loss of Ghana’s food sovereignty and security, and a country made uncompetitive in the face of the global market.
Rather than rolling out a measure that holds greater prospects of eroding gains made in the sector, SVCAG urges the government to promulgate legislation that will protect the value chain and the country at large.
Report by Ishmael Barfi.