Developments in Agricultural Biotechnology in Sub-Saharan Africa

Jennifer A. Thomson and Dionne N. Shepherd
University of Cape Town
Hodeba D. Mignouna
African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF)

A number of crops with a variety of traits are being developed by public-private partnerships in sub-Saharan Africa. These include maize that is resistant to the parasitic weed, Striga; tolerant to drought, and resistant to the African endemic maize streak virus. Others in the pipeline are insect-resistant cowpea and potato, as well as nutritionally-enriched sorghum. Some of these are undergoing field trials in various parts of the sub-continent. However, the South African regulatory authorities denied permission for release of the genetically modified potato and for glasshouse trials of the sorghum. After an appeal against the latter decision, permission was eventually given after two years. It remains to be seen how regulatory authorities respond to requests regarding the other crops.

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Can biotechnology drive an African green revolution?

By DH Mignouna, SO Oikeh and DF Mataruka
African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), P.O. Box 30709-00100, Nairobi, Kenya
Summary
Africa is the only continent in the world where the per capita food production has consistently declined for the past four decades. To reverse this trend and increase agricultural productivity, Africa needs to embrace innovative technologies including biotechnology tools and its products. An African green revolution has begun in some countries through the adoption of new technologies. Africa should embrace improved crop varieties developed through both conventional and advanced modern biotechnology. To facilitate this, AATF in partnership with private and public institutions set out to develop, test and deploy in Sub-Sahara Africa, crops that are resistant to insect pests, diseases, and soil salinity tolerance along with those that have enhanced nitrogen and water use efficiency using biotechnology tools and products.

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