AsheNews

Top Menu

  • Advert Rates

Main Menu

  • Home
  • General News
  • AGRICULTURE
  • Business/Banking & Finance
  • Entertainments & Sports
  • HEALTH
  • International
  • Investigation
  • Law & Human Rights
  • Advert Rates

logo

Header Banner

AsheNews

  • Home
  • General News
  • AGRICULTURE
  • Business/Banking & Finance
  • Entertainments & Sports
  • HEALTH
  • International
  • Investigation
  • Law & Human Rights
  • Security: Ikpeazu inaugurates Cattle Market Committee

  • Ratify N375bn Export Expansion Grants, Exporters association urges NASS

  • Zoho launches platform to help businesses in Nigeria

  • Gunmen kidnap 2 in Niger

  • WAFU B Under-17: Nigeria beat Burkina Faso to win championship

FOOD & AGRICULTURE
Home›FOOD & AGRICULTURE›GM And Seed Industry Eye West Africa’s Lucrative Cowpea Seed Market – ACB

GM And Seed Industry Eye West Africa’s Lucrative Cowpea Seed Market – ACB

By Abdallah el-Kurebe
July 6, 2015
207
0

The African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) has today released a new report titled, GM and seed industry eye Africa’s lucrative cowpea seed markets: The political economy of cowpea in Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Ghana and Malawi.  The report shows a strong interest by the seed industry in commercialising cowpea seed production and distribution in West Africa, where a very lucrative regional cowpea seed market is emerging. Cowpea, one of the most ancient crops known to humankind, with its centre of origin in Southern Africa, provides the earliest food for millions of Africans during the ‘hungry season’ before cereals mature.

The report argues that the GM cowpea push in Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Ghana co-incides with this strong interest from multinational and local seed companies to produce foundation and certified seed in West Africa. 

Commercialising Seed Production

According to Mariam Mayet of the ACB, “There is a corporate push backed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the G8 New Alliance on Food Security and Nutrition to harmonise seed laws and intellectual property rights legislation on the basis of the Union for the Protection of Plant Varieties (UPOV) 1991. This push seeks to create regional markets for crops that otherwise would not have the economies of scale for corporate investment. Corporate investment in regional seed markets relies on varieties being released onto regional lists and that are immediately made available at national levels without further trials. It is within this context that the push for the harmonisation of seed laws at regional levels must be understood.”

According to the ACB, the danger of commercialisation of seed production is that it is accompanied by the locking out of smallholder farmers from seed production and distribution- essential life processes in African agriculture. Farmers will be transformed from active participants in the cowpea value chain, to mere passive consumers of expensive certified seed produced elsewhere. 

The GM cowpea push 

The pro-GM organisation, the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), is spearheading a GM cowpea project aimed at commercially growing  Bt cowpea in Nigeria, Ghana, Burkina Faso. Field trials of the Bt cowpea underway in Nigeria and Burkina Faso are at advanced stages, with commercialisation expected in 2016/17. The GM cowpea project is funded by USAID, the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) and the Rockefeller Foundation. The GM cowpea contains the Cry1Ab Bt gene developed by Monsanto. The genetic engineering of the Bt cowpea was conducted by the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, previously involved in a biosafety scandal.

GM cowpea threatens food sovereignty

Mariann Bassey-Orovwuje of Environment Rights Action Nigeria concurs with the ACB report that the the introduction of GM cowpea “will pose a serious threat to food sovereignty in West Africa where cowpea occupies a clearly defined social, economic, nutritional and agro-ecological niche. Cowpea connects agriculture to the local environment; consumers to locally produced healthy foods; and farmers to productive resources such as locally enhanced seeds. The commercialisation of cowpea seed production in Africa will dislocate such a locally interconnected system.”

Reductionist solution

The GM cowpea is engineered to be resistant to the Maruca legume pod borer on the basis that “farmers in West Africa have identified Maruca insects as major problems in cowpea production.” 

However, according to the ACB report, farmers are confronted with a myriad of agronomic and post-harvest challenges. The Bt solution responds only to one narrow aspect of production (pod borer), and it requires a significant increase in input cost, despite viable methods of biological control already in practice amongst farmers.

Dangerous opening for commercialising seed production

According to Bern Guri of CIKOD in Ghana, “Traditional farming practices based on recycling farm-saved seed and the use of locally-adapted seed varieties are threatened by a transgenic variety of cowpea that would set a precedent for the systematic commodification of cowpea seeds. Farmers can ill afford the costs of GM seeds and the associated agro-chemical inputs required by the use of these seeds. The high prices that characterise the GM technological package will contribute to jeopardising already fragile socio-economic systems.”

Risk to human health and environment

Bright Phiri from Commons for EcoJustice in Malawi, is also concerned that the Bt cowpea has been developed using the Cry1Ab gene, the same gene contained in Monsanto’s GM maize event, MON810. According to Phiri “the health risks associated with MON810 have been clearly established and are deeply concerning.”

The report also cautions that the Bt-gene will escape from domesticated to wild and cultivated cowpea, which will trigger unknown and irreversible adverse ecological impacts. 

Socially just and ecologically sustainable solutions 

The report concludes that rather than promoting a tragically flawed agricultural development model that brings enormous risks, solutions are to be found in more sustainable social, economic and agro-ecological food production systems.  The ACB continues to insist that an equitable and sustainable solution to seed production and distribution can only come from direct engagement with farmers and their organisations to ensure their active involvement in these activities. 

Ends 

Contact:

Mariam Mayet:mariam@acbio.org.za
Bern Guri: guribern@gmail.com
Mariann Bassey-Orovwujemariann@eraction.org
Bright Phiri: bmphiri@live.com

Notes to Editors:

1. In Ghana, the validity of the field trials are being vehemently disputed by Food Sovereignty Ghana, who has applied to court for an interdict to stop the commercial release of inter alia, GM cowpea in that country. An application for the first trial is still pending in Malawi, which has similarly come under strong attack by civil society in that country.‎

Previous Article

New Cotton Variety Proves Positive In Northern ...

Next Article

Divided them form. Lights that make without.

Abdallah el-Kurebe

Related articles More from author

  • FOOD & AGRICULTUREGENERAL NEWS

    150,000 farmers, civil servants to benefit Anchor Borrowers facilities in Kebbi

    January 30, 2021
    By Editor
  • FOOD & AGRICULTUREGENERAL NEWS

    Researchers Partner On New African opportunities for sustainable food systems

    April 23, 2015
    By Abdallah el-Kurebe
  • ENVIRONMENTFOOD & AGRICULTUREGENERAL NEWS

    La Niña could change Africa’s cocoa market in 2022, Meteorologist predicts 

    April 8, 2022
    By NewsDesk
  • FOOD & AGRICULTURESCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

    New research might help farmers diagnose soybean stresses with a phone

    May 3, 2018
    By Abdallah el-Kurebe
  • FOOD & AGRICULTURE

    Press Release: Three World Food Prize laureates call for global action to save African crops

    October 29, 2017
    By Abdallah el-Kurebe
  • FOOD & AGRICULTURERESEARCH & DEVELOPMENTSCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGYVIEWPOINT/ANALYSIS

    RESEARCH: Cassava may benefit from atmospheric change more than other crops

    November 14, 2020
    By Editor

Leave a reply Cancel reply

You may interested

  • GENERAL NEWSHEALTH & HEALTHY LIVING

    COVID-19: Nigeria reports 300 new cases

  • GENERAL NEWS

    Nigeria to develop 10-year strategic plan for senior citizens centre

  • GENERAL NEWSICT

    Tambuwal’s Digital Capital And The List

Latest News

  • June 25, 2022

    Security: Ikpeazu inaugurates Cattle Market Committee

  • June 25, 2022

    Ratify N375bn Export Expansion Grants, Exporters association urges NASS

  • June 25, 2022

    Zoho launches platform to help businesses in Nigeria

  • June 25, 2022

    Gunmen kidnap 2 in Niger

  • June 25, 2022

    WAFU B Under-17: Nigeria beat Burkina Faso to win championship

Latest Comments

  • Aliyu Buba Maigoro
    on
    April 3, 2022
    The unfortunate thing is, does your votes count?!

    NULGE TO NIGERIANS: Don’t re-elect governors opposing LG autonomy

  • mubashshir Muhammad sani
    on
    March 22, 2022
    Good news

    FAAC: Federal, states, local governments share N590.546bn as February allocation 

  • AA Sadeeq
    on
    March 16, 2022
    And the US and all its political leaders?

    Biden changes stance, calls Putin ‘a war criminal’

  • Umar Ahmad
    on
    March 12, 2022
    What the USA refused to happen to her in 1960s, she is now trying to force ...

    Russia-Ukraine War: Why Nigerian govt must ban maize exports – Dangote

  • mohammad abubakar kudu
    on
    March 11, 2022
    Very good and updated reports..

    How governors spend security votes, NGF chairman, Fayemi reveals

About us:

ASHE (Pronounced ASH) is an acronym for Agriculture, Science, Health and Environment. Ashenewsonline brings to you news focused in these as well as Politics, Business, Economy and all other aspects of human endeavour.

We are here to feed into Nigeria’s news service chain as a frontier source for citizens journalism. Beyond mentioning, Ashenewsonline encourages people to provide story tips on human rights abuses, corruption, good governance, etc.

Contact Info:

  • No. 5, Maiduguri road 1st floor, Dogon Daji House, Sokoto
  • 07031140009
  • ashenewsonline@gmail.com
  • Recent

  • Popular

  • Comments

  • Security: Ikpeazu inaugurates Cattle Market Committee

    By Abdallah el-Kurebe
    June 25, 2022
  • Ratify N375bn Export Expansion Grants, Exporters association urges NASS

    By NewsDesk
    June 25, 2022
  • Zoho launches platform to help businesses in Nigeria

    By NewsDesk
    June 25, 2022
  • Gunmen kidnap 2 in Niger

    By NewsDesk
    June 25, 2022
  • Nigeria says 3,598 cholera deaths in 2021 unacceptable

    By Editor
    January 11, 2022
  • Nigeria’s apex bank governor tasks rice millers on FOREX, employment

    By NewsDesk
    February 2, 2022
  • COLUMN: The Craze for Easy Money in Nigeria and The Hanifa Story, By Prof. M ...

    By NewsDesk
    February 6, 2022
  • How governors spend security votes, NGF chairman, Fayemi reveals

    By NewsDesk
    March 11, 2022
  • Aliyu Buba Maigoro
    on
    April 3, 2022

    NULGE TO NIGERIANS: Don’t re-elect governors opposing LG autonomy

    The unfortunate thing is, ...
  • mubashshir Muhammad sani
    on
    March 22, 2022

    FAAC: Federal, states, local governments share N590.546bn as February allocation 

    Good news
  • AA Sadeeq
    on
    March 16, 2022

    Biden changes stance, calls Putin ‘a war criminal’

    And the US and ...
  • Umar Ahmad
    on
    March 12, 2022

    Russia-Ukraine War: Why Nigerian govt must ban maize exports – Dangote

    What the USA refused ...

Photostream

    Follow us

    © Copyright ASHENEWS. All rights reserved. Digital materials on this website may not be published, reproduced, rebroadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PenPlus Media Consults Ltd, Publishers of AshenewsDaily.com | Powered by Growsyn Cloud Platform