Can a GM banana solve Uganda's hunger crisis? | Alon Mwesigwa

A law paving the way for GM crops is aimed at tackling the acute food shortages faced by almost 11 million Ugandans, despite experts' fears over the technology

After an afternoon drizzle, Ephraim Muhereza carefully scouts his three-acre banana plantation in Gayaza, Wakiso district, plucking male buds from trees. This will stop his plants from catching the notorious banana bacterial wilt, which has destroyed many farms in Uganda.

"We have been told that to reduce the spread of the wilt. We have to cut them so that bees that visit them don't spread the disease," he says.