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Mr Otunge of OFAB |
A
staunch biotechnology activist, Daniel Otunge has challenged media
practitioners to serve as lead advocators in publicizing issues of
biotechnology in a manner that will improve public perception towards the
technology. He said considering the role of the media in shaping public opinion
on issues of societal interest, the media through positive and unbiased
reportage could influence a positive change in the way people think about the
new scientific development. Mr Otunge who is the Africa Coordinator of Open
Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology in Africa (OFAB) told Radio Ghana’s Isaac
Asare that majority of the people in sub Saharan Africa including
Ghana have varied perception towards biotechnology because some section of the
media have sent wrong signal condemning the impact of the biotechnology on food
production. He said most people in view of the negative reportage on
biotechnology have to a larger extent thwarted the efforts of OFAB quest to
introducing biotechnology; its principles and potentials uses in Africa and
Ghana as a whole. He said in order to wipe out this perceived agenda, there was
the need for knowledge transfer and balanced information to the public on
genetically modified foods, which, to many, is regarded as unsafe for human
consumption. Mr Otunge however underscored the need for the mass media
particularly, science journalist to play a central role in setting the right
development agenda for the public and policy makers in the on-going debate on
biotech. Strong institutional framework coupled with workable policy
legislation, he indicated, were some interventions necessary to advancing the
cause of biotechnology in Africa and again called on the media to be agents of
change by working closely with scientists and policy makers to define an
African agenda for biotechnology. Non-adherence, he noted, would mean that
Africa and for that matter Ghana will lag behind in terms of improved food
production and would forever be dependent on food aid from countries that have
adopted such innovative agricultural technologies. He said Agriculture in
Africa is still faced with numerous challenges including poor irrigational
facilities, pest attacks on crops, severe draught as well as bad agricultural
policies among others. These challenges, he recommended, could be mitigated if
the media plays its expected role in promoting better agricultural policies and
adoption of new technologies. Focussing on the Ghanaian media , Mr Otunge
implore journalists to provide credible biotech dialogue in Ghana that will
facilitate improved and timely decision making on biotechnology now
that the country is poised to begin confined field trials of various biotech
crops including cowpea, rice and cotton among others. He identified the media
as the preferred sources of information on biotech to policy makers,
legislators and farmers and called on them to contribute to building an
enabling environment for informed and timely decision –making and also help
create a better biotech framework to facilitate adoption of the technology.
GBC END IA/