{"id":41017,"date":"2023-02-23T23:44:43","date_gmt":"2023-02-23T23:44:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/genome-editing-communication-to-clear-gmos-misconception"},"modified":"2023-02-23T23:52:22","modified_gmt":"2023-02-23T23:52:22","slug":"genome-editing-communication-to-clear-gmos-misconception","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/genome-editing-communication-to-clear-gmos-misconception","title":{"rendered":"Genome Editing communication to clear GMOs misconception"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. <\/strong><\/span>In 2002, President Levy Mwanawasa shocked the world when he declined to receive GMO maize from the United States of America at the height of Zambia\u2019s worst droughts.<\/p>\n

Instead President Mwanawasa ordered thousands tonnes of the GMO yellow maize out of the country. His argument was that there was still a lot of uncertainty surrounding the biosafety of GMO foods<\/p>\n

Since then, the country has made strides towards formulation of a legal framework which culminated in the creation of the National Biosafety Authority as a regulator for GMOs. Debate around GMOs has however remained fierce. Zambia has continued making progress towards embracing of biotechnology.<\/p>\n

Recently, Zambia began the process of developing a genome editing communication strategy. The five-day consultative meeting of stakeholders who included biotechnology experts, health experts, representatives from civil society, academia and the media convened in Lusaka to develop a genome editing communication strategy.<\/p>\n

Participants were satisfied with the outcome of the meeting which they envisage will go a long way in not only helping stakeholders communicate biotechnology issues clearly and enable the country benefit from the technology to enhance agricultural production and productivity.<\/p>\n

Molecular biologist Evans Kaimoyo longs for a day when the technology can be conducted and performed by the country\u2019s scientists and young students. \u201cThe workshop has opened a real potential for me to explore an opportunity to network with fellow scientists for collaboration,\u201d Dr Kaimoyo, a senior lecturer in School of Natural Sciences, Department of Biological Sciences said.<\/p>\n

He has already identified rice as one of the candidate crops for genome editing. Dr Kaimoyo says rice has a relatively easy genetic structure and offers real opportunity for generating better yielding, disease resistant and even hybrid varieties.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope to find the most logical starting point where genome editing could be applied with the least technical huddles encountered,\u201d he said. Sody Munsaka, a medical practioner was upbeat on the application of genome editing in his field.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us in science is to lobby for funding for laboratories and equipment to develop these technologies,\u201d Dr Munsaka, who is Dean, School of Health Sciences at the University of Zambia, said. The Zambia Agricultural Women Research and Development (ZaWARD) is enthusiastic about the development.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs ZaWARD, we were very happy to be one of the key stakeholders that were identified to contribute towards the development of the communication strategy,\u201d ZaWARD representative Mutibo Chijikwa said.<\/p>\n

Ms Chijikwa says her organisation is cognisant of the fact that genome editing, biotechnology issues and the GMOs are very new and sensitive particularly in Zambia.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo coming up with a strategy that is going to promote dialogue, promote open conversation about genome editing issues and GMOs is the right way to go,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Ms Chijikwa is happy that the communication strategy once validated, will enable stakeholders to listen to one another and look at the risks, the fears people have is the right way to go.<\/p>\n

She says ZaWARD, a membership body comprising smallholder farmers, mostly women and youths, scientists and academia, will be happy to be part of the discussions, implementation and are looking forward to access the technology for research and development.<\/p>\n

African Union Development Agency (AUDA)-NEPAD head of Science, Technology and Innovation Olalekan Akinbo says genome editing reduces biodiversity loss by 70 percent as spraying of chemicals is reduced due to good quality seeds.<\/p>\n

Dr. Akinbo says the technology promotes food security since good quality seeds are a prerequisite for increased crop production. He was particularly happy with the deliberations held under the auspices of Dziwa Science Trust and declared his mission to Zambia a success.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis mission is unique because a messaging document on advocacy is developed and the Ministry of Technology and Science was in attendance. My hope is that things will turn around in policy execution.<\/p>\n

In Zambia,not just capacity buildings over years,\u201d he said. Zambia is one of the six out of the 55 AU countries which have been selected to develop a Genome Editing Communication strategy by the AU.<\/p>\n

The other countries are Burkina Faso, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Ghana and Nigeria because of the political will for the technology, including policy environment and biosafety Acts.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Zambia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. In 2002, President Levy Mwanawasa shocked the world when he declined to receive GMO maize from the United States of America at the height of Zambia\u2019s worst droughts. Instead President Mwanawasa ordered thousands tonnes of the GMO yellow maize out of the country. His argument was that there was still a lot […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":41016,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[234,235,233],"class_list":["post-41017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-zambia","tag-zambia"],"yoast_head":"\nGenome Editing communication to clear GMOs misconception - Zambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In 2002, President Levy Mwanawasa shocked the world when he declined to receive GMO maize from the United States of Amer ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/genome-editing-communication-to-clear-gmos-misconception\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Genome Editing communication to clear GMOs misconception\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In 2002, President Levy Mwanawasa shocked the world when he declined to receive GMO maize from the United States of Amer ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/genome-editing-communication-to-clear-gmos-misconception\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Zambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-02-23T23:44:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-02-23T23:52:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2023\/02\/postQueueImg_1677183320.22.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"520\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/genome-editing-communication-to-clear-gmos-misconception#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/genome-editing-communication-to-clear-gmos-misconception\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Genome Editing communication to clear GMOs misconception\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-23T23:44:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-23T23:52:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/genome-editing-communication-to-clear-gmos-misconception\"},\"wordCount\":710,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/genome-editing-communication-to-clear-gmos-misconception#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2023\/02\/postQueueImg_1677183320.22.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Zambia\",\"Zambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/genome-editing-communication-to-clear-gmos-misconception#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/genome-editing-communication-to-clear-gmos-misconception\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/genome-editing-communication-to-clear-gmos-misconception\",\"name\":\"Genome Editing communication to clear GMOs misconception - 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