Tanzania planted its first-ever confined field trial on genetically modified maize, on 5th October 2016, in Dodoma region, a semi-arid area in the central part of the country. The trial, conducted under the Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) project, seeks to demonstrate whether drought tolerant GM maize can be grown effectively. Dr. Alois Kullaya, country coordinator for the WEMA project in Tanzania, said researchers are happy that they are now able to carry out confined field trials, “and produce tangible results for people to see, as well as illustrate how biotech maize will benefit the farmers.” He however stated that the GM maize would take at least three years to establish its value.
Tanzania’s progress comes a year after the country revised a strict liability clause in the Environment Management Biosafety Regulations. The restrictive clause stated that scientists, donors and partners funding research would be held accountable in the event of any damage that might occur during or after research on GMO crops. Such developments in Tanzania therefore provides hope for the technology’s prospects across the continent. This is fundamental because Africa has been ravaged by frequent drought over the years, leading to severe crop shortages and hunger for over 300 million Africans who depend on maize as their main food source.
On the economic front, African farmers have also suffered a big opportunity cost because they have been denied the chance to adopt biotech crops for lack of regulation and support in their respective countries. According to ISAAA’s 2015 annual global status report, during the period 1996 to 2015, biotech maize was successfully grown in about 15 countries by millions of farmers on 600 million hectares. These farmers benefitted from $50 billion of increased revenues. Unfortunately in Africa, only South African farmers benefited from this increased revenue.
For more questions on the trial, contact Dr. Alois Kullaya on akkullaya@yahoo.co.uk