Background

In the past one decade, information on transgenic crops and transgenic foods has been made by the media in Africa to become some of the most contentious public issue in sub Saharan Africa. Technical and economic benefits of biotechnology  have  often been offset by perceptions of risk to human health, environmental impact, increased economic power of multinational corporations, deterioration in food quality, threat to traditional farming and rural society, and general moral acceptability.  ABSF believes that only Biotechnology Research will be an important rationality in transcending beyond human prejudices to explicitly bring out accurate and balanced information about the true nature of biotechnology and its perceived benefits/dis-benefits to society.

As widely appreciated, however, different countries are at different levels in terms of biotechnology development and awareness. Globally, Africa shows the least level of biotechnology development as demonstrated by the least acreage under genetically modified crops, and the rather low pace in establishing biotechnology legislations. The slow development of biotechnology in Africa may be attributed to limited availability of Africa-specific data need for guiding decision making. This has created room for circulation of inaccurate information on the costs and benefits of biotechnology, effectively slowing down biotechnology adoption in Africa. Some stakeholders have argued against biotechnology, saying the data available is not relevant to Africa because it was generated from foreign countries, whose agro-climatic and socio-economic conditions are far different from the African situation.

To enhance biotechnology development, change perceptions and promote adoption of biotechnology on the continent, it is crucial that timely, sufficient and accurate Africa- specific data, generated mostly from Africa, be gathered and made readily accessible to all the biotechnology stakeholders (Policy makers, farmers, consumers, civil societies and regulators among others). This will show relevance of the various biotechnology applications to African problems, thereby promoting accurate and prompt decision making by biotechnology stakeholders. In response to this felt need for Africa specific information, ABSF has, as part of the long term strategy, expanded her flagship areas to include biotechnology research.

Recognizing the fact that decision making requires an array of information obtainable via various and significantly different scientific research approaches, ABSF has incorporated biotechnology research as a key component that will include  research in areas relevant to biotechnology.

ABSF human Resource Capacity in Biotechnology Research

ABSF has constituted a highly technician secretariat team of scientists who will coordinate its research programme as follows:

• One post doctoral biotechnology scientist/professor
• Three doctoral biological/biotechnology scientists
• One doctoral socioeconomics/multi disciplinary scientist
• Five post graduate/masters level scientists
• Four first degree level biotechnology assistants

In addition, ABSF also has 18 doctoral level scientists who are acting as ABNETA Country Coordinators in 18 African countries who will create research liaison at the continental level.

As a stakeholder’s forum, ABSF also has research linkage and partnership with all the leading CGIAR centres and the leading NARS centres in Africa including national universities within the region. Such a multi disciplinary and wide scoped network of institutions will ensure that the research programme in biotechnology succeeds in achieving its noble objective.

Below are the main biotechnology research pillars/thematic areas that our programme targets:

Biotechnology Perception surveys

Most farmers in Africa do produce for both market and home consumption. As both producer and consumers, public perception about biotechnology is an important factor in biotechnology adoption.  The perception of the target buyers/consumers of foods derived from biotechnology will determine whether farmers will adopt biotechnology or not. The attitude of consumers to GM crops and GM food is continuously being assessed in other parts of the world but Africa remains mostly isolated. For example, the two most comprehensive recent assessments on GM foods show that these foods are now an accepted part of the American food supply. Once GM varieties of corn and soybean, the two major food ingredients, began to be widely grown, GM material inevitably found its way into most food products. In Europe, where labeling of foods containing GM ingredients is now required, the same process is underway. However, despite the different pace and extent of GM penetration into the food chain, there is a surprising degree of similarity in consumer responses to surveys on attitudes to purchasing and eating GM food.  

In Europe, attitudes depended strongly on the purpose for which the GM technology was used. Among respondents, 22% said they would buy the GM food if it were cheaper, while 65% said they would not. The answers were similar if the objective was to reduce the fat in food. A slightly higher proportion would buy GM food if it tasted better (28%, with 54% saying they would not). However, if the objective was to reduce pesticide residues, or make food production more environ mentally friendly, almost as many people were prepared to eat the product as those who were not.

It is however not clear what percentage of Africans are willing to buy and eat genetically modified foods, what specific fears they have and what particular traits they consider desirable. Given the fact that different communities may desire different traits depending on their needs, it is important that focused research be carried out on a continuous basis to determine what fears and expectations Africans have about biotechnology and the basis for such attitudes. Address these fears and expectation from a point of adequate information will enhance acceptance and foster adoption of biotechnology.

Knowledge Based surveys

African communities are quite heterogeneous in respect to literacy. But even for the literate, there exists a wide range of specializations covering different disciplines some of which are far from biotechnology. Though people of different educational backgrounds tend to familiarize themselves with most of the new and emerging scientific developments, it is difficult for members of the larger African community to be at the same level in terms of knowledge in biotechnology. Results from consumer surveys especially in Western countries reveal some basic conclusions about consumer attitudes toward agricultural biotechnology.

First, consumers do not agree about whether biotech foods are harmful or not. Second, a small group of people strongly opposes biotechnology. Third, the majority of consumers are uninformed about the technology and how food is produced. Relatively small but vocal anti-biotechnology activist groups have utilized these knowledge gaps to successfully influence public opinion. It is therefore important that continuous knowledge surveys are carried out in Africa to establish the level of biotechnology knowledge held by the public, the particular areas of knowledge deficiencies and the appropriate ways to capacity build the different sections of the public on relevant issues of biotechnology.

Socioeconomic surveys

Biotechnology stakeholders expect a positive change in their lives if they embrace biotechnology. There is, however, limited Africa-specific information on this topic. Socio-economic impact studies of the introduction and adoption of biotechnology in crop production in Africa should therefore be continuously carried out. Such studies will demonstrate that a prudent introduction and promotion of new biotechnological innovations in farming can make a positive contribution to the socio-economic status of resource poor farmers in developing countries in Africa.

The results from other regions of the world show that biotechnological applications offer relatively much higher financial returns than non-biotech production. Data on the Adoption of biotechnology in crop production e.g. tissue culture bananas in Africa show positive change in farm income. Such socio-economic studies will make a contribution to current debates at both national and international levels as to whether biotechnology can make a difference in uplifting the living standards of people in sub Saharan Africa. ABSF/ABNETA will continue to undertake such studies to build on existing knowledge and build the case for biotechnology adoption.

Institutional surveys

Adequate public research capacity is key to the appropriate development of Biotechnology, including genetically modified crops. While commercial crops can be introduced without intensive local research (e.g. insect resistant GM cotton), introducing products of public research depend on indigenous capacity. As one indicator of capacity and outputs, GM crops developed from public research in developing countries should be documented, and attention given to issues remaining for capacity, research and development. Knowledge of investments in public biotechnology improves policy decisions, clarifies roles of the public and private sectors, and supports public-sector implementation of research.

National research capacity increases the ability to import and adapt agricultural technologies and to ensure that the public goods aspects of research are addressed (e.g. ‘orphan crops’). The capacity of various institutions to regulate and conduct business (e.g. in biotechnology input distribution) is another area that has to be addressed. In our surveys, we will focus on reviewing the status of agricultural biotechnology research capacity and on public and private sector agencies in selected developing countries dealing with crops, livestock, fisheries and forestry.

Policy Based surveys

The objective of policy surveys will be to assess how different policies affect biotechnology development and how such policies could be reshaped to unlock the full potential of biotechnology to the various stakeholders. Information from such surveys is likely to enhance research, trade, income generation, food security and poverty reduction.

Africa is dotted with various economic blocks that has an implication on trading patterns on the continent. However, in many of these blocks, the issue of biotechnology and the inherent impact that it will have on regional and international trade has not been well assessed. Governments in Africa are still weighing in on policy development that will incorporate biotechnology as an important component of trade within various blocks and Africa’s external trading partners including the EU countries, Asia and the USA.

Crop mapping surveys

As a result of the consistent and substantial economic, environmental and welfare benefits offered by biotech crops, millions of small and resource-poor farmers around the world have continued to plant more hectares of biotech crops in 2008, the thirteenth year of commercialization. Progress has been made on several important fronts with significant increases in hectarage of biotech crops; increases in both the number of countries and farmers planting biotech crops globally; substantial progress in Africa, where the challenges are greatest; increased adoption of stacked traits and the introduction of a new biotech crop.

These are very important developments given that biotech crops can contribute to some of the major challenges facing global society, including food security, high price of food, sustainability, alleviation of poverty and hunger, and help mitigate some of the challenges associated with climate change. The biotechnology innovations that hold greatest promise for smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa are those that tackle production constraints in both food and cash crops, but which pose little risk of endangering trade.

However, little has been documented at the farm-level on the possible bottlenecks on the adoption of transgenic varieties of staple food crops such as maize. In addition, few biotechnology products have been released to farmers in less industrialized agricultural economies until recently, and most economic analyses of impacts have been conducted primarily on experiences in the U.S. with commercial crops. For cash crops, empirical evidence on adoption of Bt cotton in Argentina, China, India, Mexico and South Africa is growing. In Kenya for example Bt maize is an example of such an innovation that is currently under development. It important to document the pattern of biotechnology development and find out the reasons behind such a pattern. This information will be crucial in tackling the bottlenecks hindering biotechnology development especially in developing countries.

Agro-Ecological Mapping Surveys

Africa is highly heterogeneous in terms of the agro-ecological and socio-economic aspects relevant to food security and poverty reduction.  These wide differences bespeak of different needs in terms of agro-inputs. Knowing where particular type of inputs are most wanted and the potential of such inputs in the various regions will go along way in enhancing agricultural productivity in Africa. ABSF in collaboration with other stakeholders will therefore endeavour to document the different biotechnology-relevant mini agro-ecological zones together with the various socio-economic setups in Africa. This will ensure that right biotechnology inputs reach the right users, and where right inputs are not yet developed, ABSF will use the information to advocate for targeted research aimed at getting the suitable biotechnology inputs.

Participatory Field Research/Trials

As more biotechnology applications hit the market, it will be important for farmers to know which varieties suit different micro agro-ecological zones depending on say soils and water availability. ABSF is partnering with various stakeholders in setting up demonstration plots for various biotechnology applications for farmers to choose which application or variety best suits their needs and resource base. This will continue to expand and cover genetically modified crops as they get released to the market.

Laboratory Based Biological Research

There are many African crops and animals that need improvement to better meet the needs of the African societies. ABSF has initiated collaboration with lead scientific institutions including public and private Universities for the purpose of sharing research facilities. Both young and experienced science researchers are encouraged to partner with ABSF in carrying out innovative research aimed at crop and animal improvement using biotechnology. In addition to assisting individual scientists in fundraising for their research projects, ABSF will also provide top level supervisory personnel drawn from a wide range of experienced biological science associates attached to the ABSF research programme.

Graduate Programme Research

ABSF has initiated a collaborative partnership with leading universities in Africa and also plans to enlist partnership with other foreign universities to have students undertaking graduate research in the biotechnology field to have some of their field based research coordinated from ABSF including development of field instruments; data collection; data entry and analysis; report writing and student supervision at all levels including at masters level, doctoral and post doctoral levels.

Students who will be interested in this programme will have their institution of higher learning develop and sign a memorandum of understanding to guide in the research process.

ABSF will seek to establish a Biotechnology Research Trust Fund (BRTF) resulting from some of the recommendations that came from the 1st All Africa Congress in Biotechnology that was organized by ABSF in Kenya in 2008. this trust fund will  act as a resource pool for biotechnology research projects for graduate students who will make research fund applications to undertake active student based research through ABSF and its affiliate institutions.

African Journal of Biotechnology and Agriculture (AJBA)

Resulting from previous meetings held between ABSF and stakeholders including universities and the agriculture research system, the need for a specialist journal in biotechnology and agriculture was mooted and ABSF, which is composed of stakeholder representation was asked to develop guidelines towards establishment of such a journal for an increasing number of scientists who are researching on different elements of biotechnology application in agriculture.

ABSF has endeavored to develop such a journal whose editorial board will be composed of leading African scientists in the field of agriculture, biotechnology and policy development. The journal will also draw editorial membership from a select few international scientists with bias in biotechnology. It is envisaged that such a journal will be launched in the 1st quarter of 2010.

Knowledge Database in Biotechnology

ABSF believes that biotechnology development in Africa will be fast tracked if stakeholders have access to a knowledge base that contains all related information o biotechnology.

In endeavoring to undertake all the above research process together with stakeholders, we believe that our contribution of knowledge in biotechnology will inform more and more stakeholders who will in turn understand better the potential benefits that biotechnology can bring to Africa’s struggling and food insecure population. Similarly, adequate information on biosafety issues will ensure that any potential risk associated with biotechnology applications is mitigated to avoid any inherent effects on human health and the environment.

The Agricultural Biotechnology Network in Africa ( ABNETA ) that is managed by ABSF and supported by FAO and USAID has been specifically designed to ensure that biotechnology information is freely disseminated to all stakeholders who wish to obtain accurate and reliable biotechnology data.