For years Western countries have been trying to introduce Genetically Modified (GM) maize, beans, millet and soybeans to Africa as a new way of farming but with no success. However today they are succeeding in their long time quest and are now introducing GM seeds in agricultural institutions as research and GM foods as food aid to Africans starving population.

When farmers get these seeds as food aid, they use some for immediate consumption and the rest they farm. GM foods so far have more disadvantages than they have advantages. They are alive, they mutate, they migrate and they reproduce. A recent research done by a London institute has concluded that pollen from GM foods can migrate to fertilize an area 15 miles (26 Kilometers) away. So when the farmers plant these seeds, they are not only infecting their own farms, but they are also infecting the farms around them making them loose their livelihood and become more dependant on GM products.

Most African farmers like most developing world farmers, have tiny pieces of land; they use limited herbicides, they don’t grow food for profit, they value their harvest and reuse the seeds in the coming season. As for GM seeds, they are sterile and cannot be reused. This means farmers will have to incur the expense of buying seeds for each season. Lets not forget that these are the same farmers, who go for months without money, and now they are being forced to dig deep into their pockets to buy GM seeds. These makes the GM companies smile because its time they make the profit they have been waiting for, for a long period of time.

Further research has proven that in places where GM products are being used, the food chain has been disturbed because of the seeds toxicity. Farms will have fewer weeds, fewer butterflies, fewer insects, fewer birds, the land become infertile with time, and the animals also get affected.

Most African countries are dependent on agriculture. GM products will not only affect African farmers, but they will also trickle down to the core of Africa’s stability, which is the economy. Yes African farmers need to improve their staple crops, but genetically modified food is not the way to go.