After prolonged debates, Ethiopia has agreed to cultivate genetically modified cotton crops (BT-Cotton).
The Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change approved the cultivation of scientifically engineered cotton to address the challenges of the textile industry.
In 2015 Ethiopia amended a biosafety proclamation, which opened door to genetically modified organisms (GMO). The proclamation was drafted by the then Ministry of Forest & Environmental Protection (MoFEP), Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), Ethiopian Institution of Agricultural Research (EIAR) and the Ministry of Science & Technology.
The amount of land allocated for cotton production is expected to reach one million hectares, producing 2.6 million tonnes of cotton a year by 2032.
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