Drought. Political instability. HIV/AIDS. In 2002, these challenges exacerbated low crop production levels, resulting in starvation for an estimated eleven million people in southern Africa. Famine in Mauritania, Eritrea, and Ethiopia further contributed to the crisis.
On April 25, 2002 the United Nations (UN) declared the situation in Southern Africa a humanitarian disaster. The UN’s World Food Program commenced efforts to relieve the burden on the region by soliciting food donations from around the world.
Food Aid Missing its Mark
Even in the face of starvation, food aid from the United States (U.S.) met with conditional acceptance by Mozambique and Zimbabwe, and outright rejection by Zambia. Why wasn’t this food getting to the people who so desperately needed it, particularly in light of the fact that Losotho, Malawi, and Swaziland accepted the food aid?
Biotechnology, used in U.S. agriculture, was blamed by some. Certain special interest groups have mounted a vigorous anti-biotechnology campaign in Africa, fueling fears of potential long-term risk that was not supported by science. In fact, there is broad global scientific consensus on the safety of crops enhanced through biotechnology, including authorities such as seven academies of science (U.K., U.S., Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and a coalition of developing nations), American Medical Association, and Society of Toxicology. Some concerns were acknowledged as being political in nature, related to potential impact on future trade with Europe.
Biotechnology in its broadest sense is the use of living organisms to make a product or run a process. Today scientists have honed this process to allow the identification and transfer of specific genes for specific traits.
Biotech soybean, corn, canola, and papaya are widely grown and consumed in the U.S., Argentina, Canada, and China, and on a smaller scale in 17 other countries. In fact, biotech crops have been safely cultivated for the past decade, providing environmental and economic benefits to farmers and the natural resources that are impacted by agriculture.
Change in Attitude in Zambia
Receiving some of its information from groups that are simply opposed to food biotechnology, and citing a lack of long-term research, Zambia initially rejected the UN food aid that could have helped to alleviate the starvation of three million of its people.
In a notable change in direction, resulting from an increase in science-based communication on the issue, Zambia adopted a biotechnology/ biosafety policy in 2003. The Secretary for the Ministry of Science has stressed the need for public awareness and a uniform message from scientists in order for biotechnology to advance. To that end, the Biotechnology Outreach Society of Zambia hosted a biotechnology communications workshop in June 2005.
Increased Biotech Communication in West Africa
In August 2004, the Presidents of Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, and Niger met with representatives from the scientific and legislative communities at the Ministerial Conference on Harnessing Science and Technology to Increase Agricultural Productivity in Africa in Burkina Faso. During the conference, the leaders addressed topics ranging from biosafety to regulation to increasing agricultural productivity. Facing increasingly frequent food shortages, the leaders highlighted the role of biotechnology in increased crop production. Droughts, crop disease, and a decreased work force due to the HIV/AIDS crisis have all contributed to lower yields.
President Blaise Campaore of Burkina Faso noted that “The continent must increase food production 12-fold in order to satisfy the needs of its population. To meet this challenge Africa must acquire and adapt biotechnology to the agricultural sectors.”
The South African Template
The South African government began approving cultivation of biotech crops in the late 1990’s. Currently, over 80% of the South African cotton crop is protected from insects through biotechnology with over 90% of small-scale farmers growing the cotton. Of the current soybean crop, 35% is protected from insects and/or enhanced for better weed control. The country’s agricultural sector has also seen early success in the introduction of herbicide tolerant corn. Herbicide tolerant crops reduce the need for tilling the soil, which can help to protect valuable topsoil and ground water.
Kenya Uses Biotech to Improve Farmers’ Lot
While some African nations have struggled with basic issues of acceptance of foods enhanced through biotechnology, other countries are making significant progress in improving local agriculture through biotechnology.
Kenya, for example, has long struggled with low crop yields resulting from drought and disease. Over 15% of the corn crop is lost to stem borers each year. To combat this problem, President Mwai Kibaki has personally endorsed the use of stronger crops produced through biotechnology.
Programs created by one of Africa’s leading nonprofit agricultural and scientific organizations, Africa Harvest Biotech Foundation International (Africa Harvest), are seeking to move hundreds of farmers in Kenya out of the constraints of poverty. Strategies that address this include: development of higher-yielding, higher-profit crops, such as tissue cultured banana plants, establishment of more uniform plantation development, and improvement in farm organization. The overall goal is to contribute to the long-term sustainability of smallholder agriculture, while enhancing economic prospects in the short term.
The Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) is seeking to address the many constraints that hamper agricultural production in Kenya. According to the Institute, biotechnology offers real opportunities to potentially overcome agricultural production constraints that are difficult, time consuming, or impossible to cope with through conventional research methods.
Fortifying Sorghum, a Staple for 300 Million in Africa
Africa Harvest is leading a nine-member consortium in a project (African Biofortified Sorghum Project, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) to develop more nutritious and easily digested sorghum. Sorghum is the primary source of food for more than 300 million people who live in the arid and semi-arid tropical areas of Africa and one of the few crops that grows well in arid climates. However, it is deficient in most essential nutrients and is difficult to digest when cooked. The goal of the project is to develop biotechnology-enhanced sorghum varieties that effectively deliver essential amino acids (lysine, threonine, and tryptophan), vitamins A and E, and iron and zinc to African populations in need. The improved digestibility of the new varieties will also increase caloric uptake, increasing the nutritional value of this important staple crop.
As an added bonus, the project encompasses opportunities for technology transfer and capacity building for scientists in Africa.
A Future for Biotechnology in Africa and the Developing World
Increased awareness and a rise in legislative initiatives aimed at promoting biotechnology are reasons for optimism about the use of biotechnology to help avoid future food shortages. The success of commercialized crops produced through biotechnology in South Africa, and the extensive research in Kenya that is focusing on African solutions to African agricultural challenges, provide a positive template for other nations hoping to explore these tools for improving agricultural production. Although the causes of famine are many, biotechnology can help to address the agricultural and food production factors that contribute to these tragedies.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director-General, Jacques Diouf noted, “All our efforts must be directed to ensure that the potential benefits of biotechnology, with the necessary safeguard measures for health and the environment, are brought to within the reach of everybody, including the poor and the most disadvantaged,” (FAO Press Release, January 31, 2004)
