The Debate on the Use of Genetic Technology and Production of GM Foods in Ghana: Ethical Perspectives

Abstract

As has been the case in other parts of the world, recent attempts to pass a bill on the use of genetic technology for food production in Ghana have naturally led to intense debates between those who favour the technology and sceptics. This concept paper points out that both sides of the divide rely on arguments that have been used in other places without sufficiently considering how such arguments relate to the overall political aspirations of Ghana. Using a basic Aristotelian principle of the importance of applying appropriate means for the attainment of an end (phronesis), the paper attempts to contextualize the debate and concludes that gene technology can be used in Ghana, if it is purged of the “genomythology” on which it rests and, if the nation will engage in the search for alternatives.

Keywords: phronesis, Ghana, GM Foods, biotechnology, ethics