An associate professor of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Prof. Aaron Tettey Asare, says the country must deal with the mis­conceptions around biotechnology and adopt it towards ensuring self-sufficiency and food security.

He said the country cannot lose out on the value biotechnology brings to agriculture simply because of the misconception associated with the technology and everything possible must be done to incorpo­rate it into agriculture.

• Panel members during the discussion stage

“Today we are in a globally inter­connected world and no country can isolate itself and Ghana must decide quickly to fully explore bio­technology for growth” he said.

Prof. Asare who is an expert in Plant Biotechnology, said this at a youth seminar on biotechnology held at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) last Friday.

Organised by the Open Forum on Agriculture Biotechnology (OFAB) Ghana Chapter of the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in collaboration with the African Agricultural Tech­nology Foundation (AATF), the seminar was to educate students of the university about biotechnology and its relevance to food security and development in general.

Prof. Asare said the misconcep­tions surrounding biotechnology served as a disincentive towards efforts for its adoption in contem­porary global economy.

He noted that it was unfortunate that despite the fact Ghanaians were already enjoying biotechnol­ogy products from neighbouring countries like Burkina Faso, they still opposed the development of biotechnology products in the country.

Prof. Asare said most people in the Africa did not have adequate information on biotechnology which was the reason for failing to take advantage of the innovation to spur the growth of the continent in different areas.

According to him, Ghana’s pop­ulation was growing at an acceler­ated rate while land size remained the same, adding that “This could have serious implications on food security if nothing was done to sig­nificantly improve food production through biotechnology.”

He explained that biotechnology remained the most advanced stage of biological sciences currently and could not be ignored, stressing that “Any nation that does not embrace biotechnology will be at a disadvan­tage position in today’s world”.

Prof. Asare said the application and adoption of biotechnology particularly in agriculture for food security had become critical due to climate change impact which con­tinue worsen on a yearly basis.

In a presentation, a researcher at the Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute, Dr Daniel Osei Ofosu stated that, Ghana had strict regulation on bio­technology product development to ensure safety and order in the field under the National Biosafety Authority.

The regulations, he mentioned, comprised certification of labora­tories, permits for field work and before release of products.

He indicated that, extensive work had been done in the devel­opment of new cowpea varieties to ensure higher yields, improved quality and resistance to pests and diseases.

Speaking on the opportunities within the biotechnology space, a lecturer at the Biotechnology Centre of the University of Ghana (UG), Legon, Dr Daniel Dzid­zienyo admonished the students to embrace biotechnology as a career path due to the opportunities available for self-development.

Stakeholders during a panel discussion, stressed the need for the country to accelerate efforts to generate interests and specially explore benefits biotechnology, especially in the area of agriculture due to climate change and the wor­rying effects of agriculture