In phase II the project collaborated
on training activities with the BiosafeTrain
project, based in three East African countries (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda)
and Denmark.
Activities of BiosafeTrain
Project:
BiosafeTrain course on data analysis for risk
assessments
11 July 2007
BiosafeTrain, the East Africa-based biosafety and ecological
risk assessment project, held a course on Data Analysis for Biosafety
Risk Assessment in the University of Dar-Es-Salaam’s Continuing
Centre for Education, Tanzania. The course was held from 2-5 July 2007,
and provided participants with basic skills on how to treat scientific
data to draw balanced conclusions in biosafety and ecological risk assessment
of GMOs. The course was taught through lectures, demonstrations, group
work on case studies, and discussions.
The 20 participants, including nine BiosafeTrain-supported MSc and PhD
students, learned data exploration and analysis, use of population genetics
and ecological analysis software, and scientific communication. The course
was taught by core group members Dr. Mugassa Rubindamayugi,
Dr. Flora Ismail from University of Dar-es-salaam, Prof.
Jenesio Kinyamario, Dr. Nelson Amugune from
the University of Nairobi, Dr. Gabor Lovei from University
of Aarhus, Dr. Thure Hauser from University of Copenhagen
and Joy Owango from BiosafeTrain.
BiosafeTrain course held in West Africa
15 November, 2006
BiosafeTrain Project held its first West African GM biosafety course at
the AGRHYMET Headquarters, in Niamey, Niger, between 3-7 November 2006.
AGRHYMET provided the logistical background and selected the participants.
Teaching was done in English, and simultaneous translations to/from French
made the discussion very smooth. There were 14 participants from 6 Sahelian
countries: Niger, Tchad, Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Benin, and
Gambia.
BiosafeTrain course held in Nairobi, Kenya
September, 2006
The BiosafeTrain Project ran its first training course: "Basic concepts
and practices in risk assessment of GMOs" at the end of September
in Nairobi, Kenya. The course was financed by DANIDA and GMO-ERA Project,
and involved East African, Brazilian, American, and Danish resource persons.
There were 16 participants from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The course
concentrated on environmental impacts and gene flow, though legal, social,
and ethical aspects of GM crops were also discussed.
The participants made a field visit to the GMO glasshouse
at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) in Nairobi. One of
the highlights of the course was a live video conference link to the US,
during which Dr. John Fagan, Chief Scientist at Genetic-ID, a firm specialising
in GMO detection, gave an in-depth presentation of the theory and practice
of detecting GMO in food, shipments, etc.
During both courses, the course discussions were very
vigorous, and the participants were very active, in spite of the long
hours and heavy information load. The evaluation of both courses was very
positive, which augurs well for the future development of the project.
In Kenya, two teaching tool modules that GMO-ERA Project developed with
assistance from BiosafeTrain were tested (the gene flow and the non-target
ones) which is useful for the further development of these packages.
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ICIPE, Nairobi, Kenya
maize stemborer
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