Developing GM super cassava for improved health and food security: future challenges in Africa
Adenle, Ademola A., Aworh, Ogugua C., Akromah, Richard and Parayil, Govindan, (2012). Developing GM super cassava for improved health and food security: future challenges in Africa. Agriculture & Food Security, 1(11), 174-187
Document type:
Article
Collection:
-
Attached Files (Some files may be inaccessible until you login with your UNU Collections credentials) Name Description MIMEType Size Downloads Developing_GM_super_cassava.pdf Developing GM super cassava.pdf application/pdf 906.12KB -
Sub-type Journal article Author Adenle, Ademola A.
Aworh, Ogugua C.
Akromah, Richard
Parayil, GovindanTitle Developing GM super cassava for improved health and food security: future challenges in Africa Appearing in Agriculture & Food Security Volume 1 Issue No. 11 Publication Date 2012-08-21 Place of Publication London Publisher BioMed Central Start page 174 End page 187 Language eng Abstract There is an urgent need to solve the problem of micronutrient malnutrition that is prevalent among young children and women in Africa. Genetically modified (GM) biofortified cassava has great potential to solve part of this problem, but controversy surrounding GM technology and lack of awareness, limited facilities, biased news and other factors may hinder the adoption of GM cassava in the future. Using semi-structured interviews in Ghana and Nigeria, this paper examines the perspectives of scientists, including the BioCassava Plus (BC+) team, on the potential adoption of GM cassava for improving health and food security in Africa. The article also examines issues around the regulatory system and transfer and acceptance of GM cassava among scientists. The result suggests that an overwhelming majority of scientists agree that GM biofortified cassava will benefit the health of millions in Africa, and that GM cassava conferred with disease and pest resistance will increase cassava production as it is currently plagued by cassava mosaic diseases (CMD). However, respondents are wary of long-term effects of GM cassava on the environment and lack of a regulatory framework to facilitate the adoption of GM cassava. Even though scientists expressed little or no concern about health risks of GM cassava, they were concerned that consumers may express such concerns given limited understanding of GM technology. The article concludes with a summary of priorities for policy development with regard to adopting biofortified food products. UNBIS Thesaurus FOOD SECURITY
HEALTH
CASSAVA
FOOD POLICY
GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMSCopyright Holder The Authors Copyright Year 2012 Copyright type Creative commons DOI 10.1186/2048-7010-1-11 -
Citation counts Cited 0 times in Scopus Article
Search Google ScholarAccess Statistics: 718 Abstract Views, 74 File Downloads - Detailed Statistics Created: Mon, 14 Apr 2014, 11:57:24 JST