Ghana, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and Malawi are each implementing a Sabima biotechnology safety law and other bio safety management measures.

A biotechnology awareness workshop by Sabima project was hosted in Accra, Ghana in August 2011, themed on ‘Strengthening capacity for safety biotechnology management in sub-Saharan Africa’.

The event was attended by Ghana’s deputy minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Dr Edward K Omane Boamah.

Ghana is committed to ensuring the passing of bio safety legislation. Controversy surrounding biotechnology development and application has led to the development of intervention treaties and processes on bio safety.

Dr Boamah said formalised and legislated treaties and processes would “provide a regulatory framework to ensure environmentally safe applications of modern biotechnology in medicine, agriculture and environment, in a sustainable manner, avoid endangering public health and limit potentially damaging effects of this technology”.

Agriculture bodies support bio safety

Director of the Ganaian Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Dr Hans Adu Dapaah, gave a welcome address, saying the programme was an initiative of Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), supported by Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA).
Dr Dapaah noted that Ghana was one of the six countries in sub-saharan Africa, alongside Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and Malawi, involved with the implementation of a Sabima project.

PHOTO; Ghana deputy minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Dr Edward K Omane Boamah, supports biotechnology safety management programmes.