By Charles Kazooba
Monsanto, a United States based, multinational, agribusiness Company, is suspending its biotechnology research to develop genetically modified cotton in Uganda because of the delay in the enactment of an enabling law that is supposed to pave way for commercial production.
Instead, the biotech firm will be concentrating on the neighbouring Kenya and other African markets where there is unquestionable cooperation but also a proper legal framework.
“We prioritize biotech research in countries where there is broad farmer and political support for GMOs as well as a functioning, science-based regulatory system to govern their use. A year ago we determined that other countries were further advanced than Uganda in these respects,” revealed Brandon Mitchener, a communications spokesperson for Europe and Middle-East, in an email correspondence on April 12.
It is believed that Monsanto could have halted their operations after realizing that without a proper legal framework it would not be possible for them to claim their royalty rights.
In the past, Monsanto has sued farmers for growing crops that cross-pollinated with Monsanto crops and became contaminated with the company's patented genetic codes yet they are not legally obliged.
For over a decade now Uganda is processing a law that would facilitate the use of genetically modified organisms in crop farming, drug manufacture and industrial use.
But since the inception of the biotech legal framework in 2000 critics have urged government to abandon their attempts to protect small scale farmers, who make the biggest contribution to Uganda’s economy.
“Subjecting the agricultural sector to the imperatives of the agro-industry and its GMO-model will gradually destroy traditional family farming, local seed systems and Ugandan food. The massive introduction of GMO’s will increase family farmer’s dependency on agro-industry, because they will be obliged to buy costly patented seeds and expensive fertilizers,” argues Morris Rwakakamba, the Chief Executive Officer of Agency for Transformation.
The Chairman of the parliamentary committee on Science and Technology, Hon. Dennis Obua (Ajuri County-NRM), that was tasked with reviewing the draft law last week told journalists attending the biotech media fellowship that it was upon the scientists to lobby MPs to hasten the process of enactment. The draft biotech law is still stuck with Obua’s committee, which has yet to conduct public hearings.
A Ugandan official working the Cotton Development Organisation had earlier told News of EastAfrica, in an interview during Biosciences for Farming in Africa media fellowship in Kampala at Munyonyo Resort Hotel from April 9 to 13 that Monsanto has “stopped talking to us” because of the parliamentary ping pong between the Executive and Parliament over the biotech draft law.
“In 2012, Monsanto just kept quiet. There hasn’t been official communication from them but what we hear is that they have suspended their operations because there is no law here (to facilitate commercial production of genetically modified seeds.),” said Dr Serunjogi Lastus Katende, a plant breeder/technical advisor with Cotton Development Organisation.
Dr Serunjogi, who also happens to have been a Member of eighth Parliament and vice chairman of the parliamentary committee of agriculture that was tasked to scrutinize the National Biotechnology and Biosafety Bill-2012 and come up with a good law, claims the Bill delayed passing because most MPs were ignorant of the biotech industry.
Monsanto, after, successfully completing the process of stacking (joining) the genes from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton and Herbicide-tolerant (Ht), suspended the next stage involving the introgression of the gene into farmer preferred cotton varieties.
Bt cotton has the ability to withstand bollworm infestation, and Ht cotton tolerates RoundUp herbicide which kills weeds. Currently, the bollworm is the greatest threat affecting cotton production in Uganda. The second greatest threat is weed infestation.
In Uganda, Monsanto’s level of research was quite ahead and successful compared to Kenya. So it is possible that if Uganda passed the biotech law sooner than later Mansanto could reconsider its decision.
Leading biotech companies like Monsanto, Syngenta,
Bayer and Dow are currently racing to develop crops that will grow in drought
conditions caused by climate change, and by participating in the Water
Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) program, Monsanto is, however, gaining a leg
up by establishing new markets and regulatory approvals for its patented
transgenes in five Sub-Saharan African countries including South Africa,
Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and Mozambique.
The WEMA program was launched in 2008 with a $47
million grant from mega-rich philanthropists Warrant Buffet and Bill Gates to
help farmers in several African countries increase their yields with drought-
and heat-tolerant corn varieties.
Over the last five years, there has been a remarkable growth in Monsanto’s global business as 12 million farmers around the world have selected the company’s seeds and trait technologies to help them meet the challenges they face on their farms.
kazcharlie@yahoo.com
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