Even though GMOs have been scientifically proven to be safe and would be an invaluable component of Uganda’s food security strategy, they continue to be a target of attack by politicians and civil society groups.
Uganda, ironically, has the largest number of GM crops under test at the National Agriculture Research Organization (NARO) according to South Africa’s African Center for Biodiversity.
The NARO scientists, who recently discovered new methods to control aflatoxin are unable to release their improved seed and crop varieties because Uganda lacks a GMO policy.
Many scientists have however been unwavering in pushing for a GMO Bill.
In many ways, Uganda’s GMO-restrictive environment sees many anti-GMO groups and individuals freely spread GMO misinformation and push for agroecology, which a 2020 Africa-wide scientific meta-analysis of conservation agriculture experiments found could trap farmers in poverty.
In 2019, Ugandan agricultural scholar, Nassib Mugwanya pointed out that agroecology is riddled with inefficient farming methods.

However, some people in the country’s anti-GMO lobby want farmers to adopt it.
Transform Uganda’s farming systems
Early this month, the Daily Monitor, one of Uganda’s leading dailies, reported that an official from the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa, a group that has previously
labeled GMO seeds as neocolonialist, was urging farmers to embrace agroecology.
Uganda’s anti-GMO civil society players had also in January taken the Kenyan government to the East African Court of Justice over its decision to allow the cultivation and importation of GM grains.
Despite obstacles, Ugandan scientists continue to advocate for GM crops and improved seeds.
A farmer holding blight-resistant potatoes developed by NARO scientists. The potatoes do not need fungicides. [Richard Wetaya]
“Contrary to popular misconception, agricultural biotechnology will not destroy farmers’ indigenous farming practices or crops as some agroecologists contend,” said Erick Okwalinga, a Ugandan plant scientist.
“Rather, it will transform Uganda’s farming systems by reducing post-harvest losses and increasing crop resistance to drought and other climate extremes. Climate resilient and disease-resistant crop varieties will help Uganda, an agriculture-based economy achieve objective 13 of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Zero Hunger agenda.
“It is unwise to spread GMO misinformation based on nescience and to encourage the use of traditional farming methods in a country where the population has more than tripled and food production has remained insufficient.”
He added: “Agro-ecology contradicts President Museveni’s calls for agricultural modernization. How can agriculture be modernized when farmers are encouraged to adhere to unproductive traditional practices which result in low crop yields and incomes for resource-poor households.”
“It is unwise to spread GMO misinformation based on nescience and to encourage the use of traditional farming methods in a country where the population has more than tripled and food production has remained insufficient.”

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