Droughts and Agricultural Development in Africa: The Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) Mitigation Strategy in Food Security
Journal Title: Current Journal of Applied Science and Technology - Year 2017, Vol 23, Issue 6
Abstract
Climate change indicators, particularly frequent droughts which have occurred in Africa since the Sahelian drought of 1968-1972 cause devastating effects to the agricultural sector. These effects include; crop failures, water and pasture shortage, famines, hunger and economic underdevelopment to rain fed dependent agricultural systems in Africa. Different stakeholders have proposed various strategies which focus on mitigating the negative effects caused by drought on agriculture. Some researchers have emphatically proposed the introduction of genetically modified organisms/crops (GMO) as a strategy to mitigate the negative effects of drought on food security in Africa. This research investigates whether GMOs are functional solutions to ensuring sustainable food production in arid Africa. Data for the study was collected and analyzed from; interviews with subsistence farmers in Kenya, reports from the National Bio Safety Authority, Kenya Agricultural Livestock and Research Organization, drought scenarios in Africa since 1968-72 and attending GMO organized workshops. It was established that GMO crops are accepted by large scale cash crop farmers in 28 countries and banned in 38 countries worldwide. They are not accepted by small scale subsistence farmers who cultivate indigenous crops. Agricultural research should therefore, focus on alternative methods of improving the quality and yields of indigenous food crops which are cultivated by small scale farmers, instead of introducing the GMOs which promote monoculture and agricultural dependency on few selected crops.
Authors and Affiliations
Josephine K. W. Ngaira, Kevin Omwayi Ngaira
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP318712
- DOI 10.9734/CJAST/2017/36271
- Views 85
- Downloads 0
Performance Evaluation of Subsurface Drainage System with Reference to Water Table Response in Aduthurai, Tamil Nadu, India
Water logging and subsequent soil salinity are the two major effects of irrigated agricultural lands. Low lying areas are susceptible to water logging. Subsurface drainage is an effective control measure for salinity r...
Assessing the Potential Ecological Risks of a 12-Year Old Reclaimed Post-Mined Site for Agricultural Land-Use
Mining is a crucial component of local and global economies, but it inevitably leads to substantial environmental disturbance. Reclamation ensures that a disturbed land is rehabilitated for a specified end land-use. The...
Genetic Divergence of Bitter Gourd (Momordica charantia L.) for Sixteen Important Yield Attributing Traits
Genetic divergence among sixteen genotypes of Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) for sixteen important yield attributing traits was studied using Mahalanobis D2 statistics. The total genotypes were grouped into 6 diff...
Suitability of Using Ipetumodu Potter’s Clay for the Production of Ceramic Pot Filters
Ceramic filtration is one of the household water treatment methods of providing potable water to rural dwellers in developing nations. This study reports an effort to produce ceramic pot filters from locally available cl...
Recent Advances on Mercury Speciation in Aquatic Ecosystems, Health Effects and Analytical Techniques
Elemental mercury is not as poisonous as its congeners such as methyl mercury and dimethyl mercury, especially at trace levels. However, understanding the speciation mechanisms of mercury in aquatic ecosystems offers an...