Braimah Joseph A, Atuoye Kilian N, Vercillo Siera, Warring Carrie, Luginaah Isaac
Environmental Health and Hazards Lab, Department of Geography, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.
Department of Geography, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.
Glob Bioeth. 2017 Feb 22;28(1):3-18. doi: 10.1080/11287462.2016.1261604. eCollection 2017.
This paper examines the highly contested and ongoing biotechnology (Bt) policy-making process in Ghana. We analyse media content on how Bt is viewed in the context of Ghana's parliamentary debate on the Plant Breeders Bill and within the broader public policy-making literature. This paper does not seek to take a position on Bt or the Bill, but to understand how policy actors influence the debate with political and scientific rhetoric in Ghana. The study reveals that in the midst of scientific uncertainties of Bt's potential for sustainable agriculture production and food security, policy decisions that encourage its future adoption are heavily influenced by health, scientific, economic, environmental and political factors dictated by different ideologies, values and norms. While locally pioneered plant breeding is visible and common in the Ghanaian food chain, plant breeding/GMOs/Bt from international corporations is strongly resisted by anti-GMO coalitions. Understanding the complex and messy nature of Bt policy-making is critical for future development of agricultural technology in Ghana and elsewhere.
本文审视了加纳备受争议且仍在进行中的生物技术（Bt）政策制定过程。我们分析了媒体内容，内容涉及在加纳议会关于《植物育种者法案》的辩论背景下以及更广泛的公共政策制定文献中，人们对Bt的看法。本文并非试图对Bt或该法案表明立场，而是要了解政策行为者如何利用政治和科学言辞在加纳影响这场辩论。研究表明，在Bt对可持续农业生产和粮食安全的潜力存在科学不确定性的情况下，鼓励未来采用Bt的政策决策受到不同意识形态、价值观和规范所决定的健康、科学、经济、环境和政治因素的严重影响。虽然本地首创的植物育种在加纳食物链中很常见，但国际公司的植物育种/转基因生物/Bt遭到了反转基因联盟的强烈抵制。理解Bt政策制定的复杂和混乱本质对于加纳及其他地区未来农业技术的发展至关重要。
