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Researchers Urge Africa to Embrace GM Technology

Posted on: Friday, 15 July 2005, 09:01 CDT

Researchers urge Africa to embrace GM technology

NAIROBI, July 14 (Xinhua) -- Leading researchers on Thursday called on African countries to accept genetically modified (GM) technologies in order to improve food production on the continent.

Addressing a news conference in Nairobi, Joel Cohen, a senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), said genetic engineering and other biotechnologies could increase yields and improve food quality by addressing problems caused by diseases, pests and environmental factors such as drought.

"Current biotech research has the potential to reduce the use of pesticides, increase drought tolerance, and improve the nutritional value of staple foods," Cohen told reporters.

"These changes could benefit the environment, improve health, reduce the cost of food, and increase the incomes of poor smallholder farmers through Africa," he added.

He was releasing the findings of a new study on the state of public biotech crop research and regulation in four African countries: Egypt, Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

The study which was done early last year debunks misconceptions about the drivers of biotechnology in Africa and documents the groundbreaking gains being made by public research.

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has said that 23 out of 53 African states suffer from dire food shortages, primarily due to drought, and has suggested that biotechnology could help farmers in Africa and the rest of the developing world to feed another 2 billion people in 30 years.

The IFPRI said public institutions across the continent are conducting groundbreaking research to produce GM crops but noted that the research cannot be advanced due to lack of funding, expertise and regulatory requirements.

"Most African countries lack the expertise, capacity and funding to develop and comply with biosafety regulatory requirements and these deficiencies have become more pronounced as they implement the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety," said Idah Sithole-Niang, who authored the study.

Idah who is a professor at the University of Zimbabwe said while previous reports have examined biotech crop research in developing countries, her study is the first to draw the connection between safety and regulatory requirements and specific crops and genetic traits, showing the policy implications of public research.

She noted that biotechnology has been used, with some measure of success, to breed drought-resistant crops as well as new strains of African staples such as rice and cassava that require less water.

But the study itself emphasizes that there is no single technological solution for the many problems facing agriculture in Africa.

It recommends an increase in small-scale, confined field trials to test crops, determine safety, and receive feedback from farmers.

It also stresses the need to provide decision-makers with science based biosafety information, so as to improve the clarity of regulatory policies and procedures.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

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