Eyes on West Africa as world celebrates 2 decades of biotech crops
The first biotech crops were grown commercially in 1996. In the last two decades, more than 18 million farmers annually have enjoyed increased crop productivity and improved income, livelihoods, and quality of life from this sustainable agricultural tool which also preserves natural resources and benefits the environment.
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Africa has not lagged behind in embracing this technology; indeed, there is no other agricultural technology that has been as quickly adopted as plant biotechnology.
In Africa, South Africa was the first country to commercialise biotech crops in 1998, only two years after the first crops were commercialised. In 1999, South Africa’s Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) Act of 1997 came into force paving the way for the growth of the industry. Some 17 years later, South Africa is the 8th largest producer of GMOs in the world. In 2013 alone South Africa produced 2.9 million hectares of GM crops. The percentage of South African crops that are genetically modified include 80 per cent white Maize, 55 per cent yellow maize, 85 per cent soya and 98 per cent cotton.
Participants at a recent roundtable in Ouagadogo, noted that in West Africa, Burkina Faso is a regional leader in biotech crops commercialisation. They recalled that in 2008, the government, after evaluation by the National Biosafety Agency (ANB), approved the commercialisation of a Bt cotton variety. Approximately 8,500 ha of Bt cotton were planted for seed production and initial commercialisation. Six years later, in 2014, some 480,000 hectares were planted out of a total acreage of 660,000 has, representing 72 per cent penetration of the technology.
Situation today
Today, about 4 million people make money out of the cotton sector, directly or indirectly. For most Burkina Faso farmers, Bt cotton has resulted with more than 50 per cent increase in incomes. Globally, there are 24 million hectares of Bt cotton and only 8 million of convention cotton; clearly, the benefits of Bt cotton are evident to farmers who have continued adopting the crop.
In the early years of biotech crops adoption, it was assumed that South Africa would be pivotal in expanding adoption in Southern Africa. In recent times, this kind of thinking has shifted to Burkina Faso. Some observers note that Burkina Faso has been more catalytic to regional interest in biotech than South Africa was. Regional bodies such as the eight-member states West Africa Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) and the 16-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have relied on the Burkinabe experience and expertise in developing a harmonised biosafety framework that will work for the West Africa region.
The location of New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) agency, the African Biosafety Network of Expertise (ABNE) - a biosafety resource network for African regulators and policy makers - in Ouagadougou, affirms to the important role the African Union attaches to the country.
It is also not lost on observers that Ghana relied on Burkina Faso’s research and data to adopt Bt cotton, confirming the country’s regional leadership. Ghana has now set up a fully-fledged National Biosafety Authority (NBA) expected to fast-track technology adoption and oversee the safe-use of the technology.
Nigeria recently passed its biosafety law, but “big brother” may look to Burkina Faso to navigate the way ahead, especially when it comes to biotech commercialisation. The country, however, has vast experience and has on-going confined field trials of various crops.
During the 20th Anniversary of the Global Commercialisation of Biotech Crops (1996-2015), the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA) pointed out that in two short decades, there has been a 100-fold increase in global biotech hectarage from 1.7 million hectares in 1996 to 179.7 million hectares in 2015.
Conclusion
It is estimated that farmers in up to 28 countries have reaped more than US$150 billion in benefits from biotech crops since 1996. This has helped alleviate poverty for up to 16.5 million small farmers and their families annually totalling about 65 million people, who are some of the poorest people in the world.
It is a paradox that the devastating drought in South Africa led to a massive 23 per cent decrease of 700,000 hectares in intended plantings in 2015. The drought in eastern and southern Africa in 2015/2016 puts up to 15 to 20 million poor people at risk for food insecurity and compels South Africa, usually a maize exporter, to rely on maize imports. This underlines the need for increased research in drought-resistant biotech crops; it also calls for political decisiveness in ensuring increased acceptance of this technology in Africa. — GB