Dr. Daniel Mataruka
“During the past decade, Africa’s population increased from 760 to 970 million, pushing farmers to encroach on fragile ecosystems. Climate change is increasingly manifest through erratic rainfall patterns, prolonged drought spells, and unprecedented floods, making rain-fed agriculture even more risky, thus aggravating food insecurity among resource-poor smallholder farmers. Compounding this scenario are post-harvest pests that devour their meager harvests. Indeed, the challenges are great, sometimes disillusioning, but certainly not insurmountable. Under these circumstances, GM technologies have a role in addressing challenges that were previously elusive to classical breeding on its own.”
Genetically modified (GM) crops conjure up varying emotions worldwide. Nevertheless, their acreage is increasing, reaching 125 million hectares in 2008 (James, 2008). Ground breaking work by Mendel in 1860’s took advantage of natural genetic recombination within species, resulting into superior harvests for successive generations. The discovery of Agrobacterium tumefaciens in 1907 offered a unique tool to transfer genes into plants, ushering in a new era of gene transfer across species.
Recently, use of GM technology to produce medicines has risen steeply. Between 2001 and 2006, 60 to 70% of drug approvals in the US and European Union, involved GM technology (Clearant, 2006; EMEA, 2006). Paarlberg (2008), noted that about 25% of new drugs going into the global market are produced using GM technology, while in agriculture, 80% of all cultivated hybrid maize in the US is GM (Cox et al. 2008). In his book Starved for Science: how biotechnology is being kept out of Africa, Paarlberg (2008) further articulates that, unfortunately most African countries have adopted an anti-GM stance, that appears to be influenced by European colonial linkages. Yet, it’s the application of science to agriculture that enabled Europe to produce surplus food. Consequently, while Europe may not require GM technologies to bolster their agriculture, they however, readily embrace them for improved healthcare.
But, where exactly is the role of GM crops in Africa?
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