Governance of biotechnology in Africa: the challenge of reconciling interdependencies and differences

The article argues that an informed understanding of the differences and interdependencies among different stakeholders within the biotechnology and biosafety arena is a key issue in the unpacking of challenges facing development and implementation of biosafety systems in Africa. Advocating for a move beyond rhetoric, the article calls for a more nuanced and context-driven approach to biosafety as an avenue for raising chances of success for policy processes and making best use of available resources. Failure to adequately define and delimit the interests and concerns of various stakeholders, and embedding them within a science-based assessment of biosafety brings more harm than good to efforts by countries to develop and implement biosafety systems

RIS Research and Information System for Developing Countries Status of Biotechnology in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities 2 Asian Biotechnology and Development Review

Abstract: For the past three decades Africa has been a net importer of food!! In recognition of this situation and the significant role agriculture plays in Africa's development, the continent, under the auspices of New Partnerships for Africa's Development (NEPAD), developed a number of initiatives to enhance agricultural growth, alleviate poverty and improve quality of life. Some of these initiatives are in the African Union (AU)-NEPAD Science and Technology Consolidated Plan of Action in which the flagship programmes on indigenous crops are contained and the NEPAD Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). Agricultural biotechnology alone will not solve the multitude of problems that farmers in Africa face; however, it has the potential to make crop breeding and crop management systems more efficient thereby generating improved crop varieties and higher yields. The challenges facing the continent on biotechnology and biosafety include lack of fund; loss of trained technical expertise; slow development of the biotechnology sector; inadequate Intellectual Property Rights infrastructure; government not taking a more active political role in promoting the technology and the issue of public acceptance brought about by activism. The lag in development of a governance capacity for biotechnology is seen in the current status of the development of national biosafety frameworks (NBFs) in Africa. Out of the 53 countries of the African Union, only 16 countries have laws, regulations, guidelines or policies related to modern biotechnology. Of these, only South Africa, Burkina Faso and Egypt have had experience in the assessment of applications for commercialization of any biotech crops. The combination of inadequate policies and legal frameworks require urgent attention that is led primarily by Africans if it is to achieve credibility in the eyes of African governments, African civil society and African people

Relevance of Crop Biology for Environmental Risk Assessment of Genetically Modified Crops in Africa

Knowledge about the crop biology of economic crops in Africa is needed for regulators to accurately review dossiers and conduct comprehensive environmental risk assessments (ERA). This information allows regulators to decide whether biotech crops present a risk to biodiversity, since crossing between domesticated crops and their wild relatives could affect the adaptations of the wild species. The criteria that should be used in the evaluation of African crops for environmental risk assessment (ERA) include: growth habit, centre of origin, centre of genetic diversity, proximity of wild relatives, inter-fertility, mode of pollen dispersal, length of pollen viability, mating system, invasiveness, weediness, mode of propagation, mode of seed dispersal and length of seed dormancy. In this paper, we discuss the crops being genetic engineered in Africa and describe the crop biology of those with native relatives

Strengthening regulatory capacity for gene drives in Africa: leveraging NEPAD’s experience in establishing regulatory systems for medicines and GM crops in Africa

Abstract The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Agency recognizes that Africa is in a period of transition and that this demands exploring and harnessing safe advances made in science-based innovations including modern biotechnology. To advance the science of biotechnology in Africa effectively, while at the same time safeguarding human health and the environment, the African Union (AU) adopted a High-Level Panel report on modern biotechnology entitled, Freedom to Innovate, which advocated for a coevolutionary approach where technology development goes hand in hand with regulation. Furthermore, most AU member states are Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CPB), a legally binding international agreement negotiated, concluded and adopted within the framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity. This seeks to guide Parties in developing systems for the environmentally sound management of modern biotechnology applications. Currently, 49 AU Member States have signed and ratified the CPB, of which 12 have passed biosafety laws. African Union (AU) member states are at different stages in the development of regulatory frameworks for applications of modern biotechnology, which include genetically modified (GM) products and other emerging technologies. Biosafety regulatory frameworks comprise: biotechnology and/or biosafety policy; laws, regulations and guidelines; administrative systems; decision-making systems; and mechanisms for public engagement. To assist Member States to implement functional regulatory frameworks for both agriculture and health applications, the NEPAD Agency established the African Biosafety Network of Expertise (ABNE) and the African Medicines Regulatory Harmonization (AMRH). Currently, transgenic insects and GM crops are regulated by Competent National Authorities whose mandate derives from national biosafety laws. For GM crops, a lot of research has been conducted up to the confined field trial (CFT) and multi-location trials stages in a number of African countries. Burkina Faso has fully functional containment facilities for transgenic mosquitoes while Mali and Uganda are developing theirs. The Burkina Faso regulatory agency has granted permits and has already received sets of sterile mosquito eggs for trials in the contained facility. It is instructive to note that both ABNE and AMRH have worked with national and regional regulatory bodies in Africa to enhance their technical capacities for informed decision making, adoption of best practices, and compliance with international standards. It is against the backdrop of a rich blend of on-the-ground knowledge, experience, expertise, and insight into the context and political sensitivities of member states that the NEPAD Agency seeks to expand existing support. This would include capacity strengthening in the regulation of emerging technologies, such as the application of gene drives in the development of transgenic mosquito for the control of malaria transmission