Browse Data and Analysis

In February 2025, Ethiopia’s National Variety Release Committee (NVRC) approved the commercial release of three TELA maize hybrid varieties.

FAS Accra observes Ghana making appreciable advancements in the field of plant biotechnology (biotech). The country is expanding its agricultural biotech crops developmental and production capabilities.

Ghana continues to demonstrate its conviction that proven science-based advanced technologies remain viable options in the global efforts to achieve food security in the face of various production constraints like climate change.

Ghana’s National Biosafety Authority (NBA) on Friday September 15, 2023, approved the Bt cowpea event 245F (Cry2Ab) for environmental release.

The impacts of climate change are beginning to manifest on the entire globe and particularly on developing countries like Ghana. The country is vulnerable to rising sea levels, droughts, increasing temperatures and erratic rainfall which adversely impacts infrastructure, hydropower production, food security and coastal and agricultural livelihoods.

Ghana’s National Biosafety Authority has eventually given the green light for the environmental release and placement on the market of the pod borer resistant (PBR) or Bt. Cowpea.

Ghana's National Biosafety Authority approved the release of the GE crop BT Cowpea into the environment and market, marking the first GE crop to be approved for use in Ghana. The approval lasts for ten years and is renewable.

Though momentum towards environmental release of the Bt cowpea seems to have slowed down, approval remains inevitable. Dossier on Nitrogen Use Efficient (NUE) rice is ready for submission.

Submission of the application for environmental release of Ghana’s first genetically engineered (GE) product, Bt cowpea, to the National Biosafety Authority (NBA) for approval is still pending...

The application for commercial release of Ghana’s first genetically engineered (GE) product - Bt cowpea is now ready to be submitted to the National Biosafety Authority (NBA) for approval....

Ethiopian farmers and researchers have tried to address food security shortfalls and plant health issues through conventional breeding without success.

In 2018, the Government of Ethiopia (GOE) authorized cultivation of genetically engineered (GE) cotton by granting official approvals for environmental release.