COMMENT | Barbara Ntambirweki | Last week the Ugandan media was awash with reports that a British firm, Oxitec, in partnership with Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) is set to develop a technique for inserting a lethal gene into mosquitoes to combat malaria. While Uganda has one of the highest …
Read More »Committee moots new law on GMOs
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Committee on Science, Technology and Innovation has called on government to present laws regulating genetically modified organisms (GMO), to provide for the ongoing research on gene drive in the country. The Gene Drive Technology, which is being done under the Uganda Virus Research …
Read More »Africa shifts towards genetic modification to boost food security
Ghana is the latest African nation to commit to GM in an attempt to unlock economic benefits from agriculture. SPECIAL REPORT | BIRD AGENCY | The designation of Ghana as the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) collaborating center for Africa, focusing on plant breeding and associated technologies for food and …
Read More »GMO research: Lack of law complicates it
Now scientists plot new law after Museveni sat on old one Kampala, Uganda | ISAAC KHISA | For years Ugandan scientists have been trying to figure out how various crops can be made to respond to numerous challenges – drought, pests and diseases. Dr. Godfrey Asea is one of them. A …
Read More »The Independent’s Musoke wins top Agricultural Biotechnology award
The Independent shines at OFAB Journalism Awards Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Independent’s Ronald Musoke is among six journalists that have been recognized at this year’s Open Forum for Agricultural Biotechnology in Africa (OFAB) Journalism Awards. This year’s awards in Kampala, the 4th by OFAB, recognized winners of …
Read More »CSOs back Museveni on GMO bill
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Civil Society Organisations have hailed President Museveni for not assenting to the National Biotechnology and Biosafety Bill, 2012. In a letter to the Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, the President proposed that the inventor of genetic material be held liable for any harm that their …
Read More »Planting seeds of regime change
How GMO seeds and Monsanto are driving US policy in Venezuela | Whitney Webb | As the political crisis in Venezuela has unfolded, much has been said about the Trump administration’s clear interest in the privatisation and exploitation of Venezuela’s oil reserves, the largest in the world, by American oil …
Read More »Museveni’s GMO law dilemma
He’s damned if he signs law, and damned if he doesn’t Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | Six months since Parliament passed a revised Genetic Engineering Bill, 2018, that included demands by President Yoweri Museveni, he has not signed it into law. But he has also not written to Parliament …
Read More »Even without GMOs, Uganda can beat food insecurity, New FAO boss
Across the world, discussions around food are changing from focusing on just whether there are enough quantities to feed everybody to whether people are consuming quality. Experts are worried about increasing Non- Communicable Diseases which have a direct link to what people eat. Obesity used to be mainly a problem …
Read More »GMO law fight not over
Civil society excited but frustrated scientists pin hope on Museveni Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | Ugandan civil society is celebrating a new law that seeks to regulate the development and application of biotechnology. But it is cautious celebration – until President Yoweri Museveni signs it into law. The objective of …
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