HTSD Backgrounder No. 4: Green Biotechnology
Recent and rapid developments in science have allowed human beings to understand living organisms in greater detail than before. The new knowledge has enabled scientists to modify the very building blocks of life - the genes themselves. Nonetheless, many concerns on this aspect of modern crop biotechnology have been raised. Among them:
Consumer concerns about the short and long term safety of genetically modified (GM) foods on people;
Environmental concerns, including worries about such effects as reduced bio-diversity, proliferating "super" pests and weeds, gene leakage, and the sustainability of agriculture using GM seeds; and
Ethical, religious, and other societal concerns stemming from the possible impact of GM crops on society.
Africa has an important stake in the green biotechnology debate. Dictating those concerns is the urgent need to feed its growing population. About 70% of Africa's population live in rural areas and depend, directly or indirectly, on agriculture. About 5 million hectares of forests are lost annually in Africa, mostly to the expansion of crop area. By 2010, more than 35% of the Sub-Saharan African population will be undernourished, the highest rate among all regions in the world.
Against this background, advances in crop biotechnology promise to produce superior variants - crops with higher yields, higher nutritional contents, and tolerance to pests and drought. Furthermore, modern biotechnology offers possibilities for amplifying the achievements of the earlier green revolutions by improving the ability to diagnose plant and animal pathogens, and accelerating conventional plant and animal research.
However, the Report argues that more needs to be done in order for Africa to benefit from these technologies. In particular, the Report critically examines the concerns raised on the application of new advances in biotechnology to agriculture. They range from the issues that these technologies may increase income inequalities, damage human and animal health, degrade the environment and encourage bio-piracy, to the risks of Africa losing its comparative advantage in tropical crops.
The Report recommends that African countries and their governments must exploit a range of options to ensure that future biotechnology initiatives reach their full potential for alleviating poverty and securing food security. Specifically, and among other options, African countries should seek to:
Promote African-focused biotechnology research in which emphasis is laid on "orphan crops", particularly cassava, millet sorghum, sweet potato and yams but also other cereals such as maize, rice and wheat;
Develop African-owned biotechnology policies whereby all the relevant stakeholders, including civil society, private sector farmer organizations, are involved in the formulation of national plans;
Establish national regulatory institutions for risk assessment and management since most African countries have inadequate human resource capacity to perform these functions;
Increase investment in modern biotechnology research. The current levels in most African countries are very low (hardly 2% of the total agricultural research funds);
Promote public/private sector partnership in modern biotechnology research; and
Strengthen the linkages between modern crop biotechnology and its use in practical plant breeding.
The experience of African countries that have deployed genetically modified (GM) crops shows that success depends on the extent to which countries pursued these options. Countries cited as success stories include South Africa (maize and cotton), Kenya (sweet potato), and Egypt (maize, faba beans and cotton).
The Report argues that Africa, which largely missed the benefits of the earlier green revolutions, cannot afford to let the biotechnology revolution bypass the continent.
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