TY - JOUR
T1 - Food safety, food security and genetically modified organisms in Africa
T2 - a current perspective
AU - Gbashi, Sefater
AU - Adebo, Oluwafemi
AU - Adebiyi, Janet Adeyinka
AU - Targuma, Sarem
AU - Tebele, Shandry
AU - Areo, Oluwaseun Mary
AU - Olopade, Bunmi
AU - Odukoya, Julianah Olayemi
AU - Njobeh, Patrick
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Moving forward from 2020, Africa faces an eminent challenge of food safety and security in the coming years. The World Food Programme (WFP) of the United Nations (UN) estimates that 20% of Africa’s population of 1.2 billion people face the highest level of undernourishment in the world, likely to worsen due to COVID-19 pandemic that has brought the entire world to its knees. Factors such as insecurity and conflict, poverty, climate change and population growth have been identified as critical contributors to the food security challenges on the continent. Biotechnological research on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) provides a range of opportunities (such as increased crop yields, resistance to pests and diseases, enhanced nutrient composition and food quality) in addressing the hunger, malnutrition and food security issues on the continent. However, the acceptance and adoption of GMOs on the continent has been remarkably slow, perhaps due to contrasting views about the benefits and safety concerns associated with them. With the reality of food insecurity and the booming population in Africa, there is an eminent need for a more pragmatic position to this debate. The present review presents an overview of the current situation of food safety and security and attempts to reconcile major viewpoints on GMOs research considering the current food safety and security crisis in the African continent.
AB - Moving forward from 2020, Africa faces an eminent challenge of food safety and security in the coming years. The World Food Programme (WFP) of the United Nations (UN) estimates that 20% of Africa’s population of 1.2 billion people face the highest level of undernourishment in the world, likely to worsen due to COVID-19 pandemic that has brought the entire world to its knees. Factors such as insecurity and conflict, poverty, climate change and population growth have been identified as critical contributors to the food security challenges on the continent. Biotechnological research on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) provides a range of opportunities (such as increased crop yields, resistance to pests and diseases, enhanced nutrient composition and food quality) in addressing the hunger, malnutrition and food security issues on the continent. However, the acceptance and adoption of GMOs on the continent has been remarkably slow, perhaps due to contrasting views about the benefits and safety concerns associated with them. With the reality of food insecurity and the booming population in Africa, there is an eminent need for a more pragmatic position to this debate. The present review presents an overview of the current situation of food safety and security and attempts to reconcile major viewpoints on GMOs research considering the current food safety and security crisis in the African continent.
KW - Africa
KW - Food security
KW - GMOs
KW - food safety
KW - genetically modified organisms
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85111674342&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/02648725.2021.1940735
DO - 10.1080/02648725.2021.1940735
M3 - Review article
C2 - 34309495
AN - SCOPUS:85111674342
SN - 0264-8725
VL - 37
SP - 30
EP - 63
JO - Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering Reviews
JF - Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering Reviews
IS - 1
ER -