KNOWLEDGE AND PERCEPTION OF FARMERS TOWARDS GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROPS: THE PERSPECTIVE OF FARMER BASED ORGANIZATIONS IN NORTHERN REGION OF GHANA

Abstract

Despite the fact that Ghana had put in place legislative and institutional frameworks to guide the application of GMO technology in commercial agriculture, the desired results will not be realised unless farmers‟ knowledge and perception about GM crops are known and adequately addressed. This paper therefore, presents results of a survey assessing the knowledge and perception of 305 leaders of Farmer Based Organizations (FBOs) in Northern Region of Ghana towards GM crops. Q methodology was employed in guiding data collection process, with Likert Scale used in measuring farmers‟ perception; and descriptive statistics used in analyzing the data. The study revealed that Majority of Leaders of FBOs are aware of GM crops, with close to two-third (64%) of those who are aware of it, having appreciable knowledge about the technology. While respondents were of the opinion that commercial application of agro biotechnology will help boost the country‟s food security situation, they were however, concerns about possible policy failures, environmental, health and market risks associated with GM crops cultivation. It is therefore recommended that relevant institutions should engage FBOs and streamline their information dissemination mechanism on GM crops to avoid misinformation and help boost farmers‟ confidence on the country's agro biotechnology agenda.