June 11th Agriculture Conference in Mbarara

Thanks to Dr. William’s kind invitation, we attended a conference title: Capacity Building of Regulatory Agencies to Handle Genetically Modified Plants, Seed, & Processed Foods. The topics covered include Genetically Modified Organism spread, Biological Safety Containment, and Monitoring once Released. At lunch, we had to split up to find seats. I ended up with a botany professor from the University of Nairobi (he was giving the presentations), an Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) employee, and an Agriculture communications expert from Argentina. They had some nice things to say about working with Canadians. It was really neat to be rubbing shoulders with suck important people. I was especially impressed with the woman from the FAO. She was born in Japan and has worked all over the world, including her current base in Rome. She has a Ph.D in sociology, has done some work on Avian Flu, and been accepted for publication by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She sounds like she has a very exciting life. The conference was intended to direct policy in Uganda about GMO’s. Some concerns are trade issues, especially with the EU, spread of GMO’s and consumer perceptions. The conference was scheduled for 5 days but we only attended one. I found it very interesting to hear the discussion on similar issues we face in Canadian agriculture.