A civil society group, Food Sovereignty Ghana has resorted to the courts to restrain the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) from approving the sale of Genetically Modified (GM) cowpeas and rice in the country.
[contextly_sidebar id=”vFkxUrxNfUrvnsDYYljc18EIHEIYyAe7″]The group is seeking an injunction to prevent the national biosafety committee, established under the Biosafety Act from commercialising the food products.
According to them, the Ministry lacks the authority to do so.
This comes on the back of several attempts by the group to draw attention to what it considers to be dangers involved in the introduction and sale of GM foods in Ghana.
In an interview with Citi News, lawyer for Food Sovereignty Ghana, George Tetteh-Wayo insisted there is the need for the nation to uphold the dictates of the Biosafety Act.
“We are taking the Ministry to Court, we are also taking the National Biosafety Committee to court for this breach of the Biosafety Act…”
“We want participation and consultation by all stakeholders to arrive at what the way forward should be guarding GMOs in Ghana,” he added.
Various stakeholders have been waging a national war against attempts by government to approve the use of GMOs.
They believe GMOs will undermine and damage the traditional farming practices and serve as unnecessary threat to public health, water resources, air and the natural environment.
In 2014, a group calling itself Coalition for Farmers Rights and Advocacy served notice of embarking on a massive protest against GMOs.
The demonstration which was scheduled for March 6, 2014 was expected to draw massive support against the introduction of GMOs into the nation’s food chain but the demonstration was later called off after the Police asked the group to postpone it.
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By: Marian Efe Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana