Brong Ahafo dares MPs over Plant Breeders Bill

Chiefs and Peasant Farmers in the Brong Ahafo Region have vowed to vote against all their Members of Parliament in the next election if they ignore their calls and pass the Plant Breeders Bill into law.

The bill, which is designed to allow the introduction of Genetically Modified Organisms into the country, is currently before the House and is believed to be at the consideration stage.

But traditional leaders and farmers across the country have opposed the bill, arguing the introduction of GMOs will have direct consequences on conventional farming methods and jeopardise the livelihoods of rural farmers.

The Brong Ahafo chiefs and people joined the chorus and issued the warning at a policy dialogue in Techiman organised by the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) with support from STAR-Ghana.

A sub-chief in Techiman, Nana Ameyaw Manu, who doubles as the Vice President of PFAG, lamented the attitude of MPs toward the people they were elected to represent.

He said it is regrettable that MPs flagrantly refused to meet with farmers and listen to their concerns after they have been voted into Parliament.

The people of the region, Nana Ameyaw said, play a significant role in the socio-economic development of the country and deserve better from their representatives.

“Brong Ahafo Region plays a key role in providing food to feed the country and for export,” he stated of the region whose farmers are leading producers of maize, cassava, yam, cowpea, tomatoes, plantain, oranges, cashew and cocoa, among others.

He warned MPs from the region not to support any move by Parliament to pass the plant breeders bill into law.

According to him, the country’s farmers are capable of producing sufficient food to meet domestic consumption and for export, provided challenges such as market access, extension services, and credit to farmers, mechanisation, feeder road networks and irrigation services are addressed.

Contributing to the discussion, Nana Kwaw Adams, Benkumhene of Techiman Traditional area, said categorically that any MP from Brong Ahafo, who votes for the bill will be voted out come 2016.

He added that reliance on organic farming is the solution to challenges such as soil infertility and climate change.

Nana Adams believes the PBB will legalise the introduction of GMOs when passed into law, and this will give more power to multinational seed companies to take control of indigenous seeds since Ghanaian farmers and scientists do not have the capacity to engineer seeds.

In response, the Presiding Member of the Techiman Municipal Assembly, Kwesi Yeboah Asuame who represented the DCE at the forum, assured the farmers of the assembly’s continued support.

The meeting brought together over 150 farmer’s leaders, Directors of Agriculture, Chiefs and DCEs among others, from Kintampo North and South districts, Techiman North and South districts, Nkoranza North and South districts, Wenchi, Ejura, Sekyere, Domase and Tain.

The programme culminated in the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the farmers and the duty bearers to continue working together for development of the region.