In Africa, biotechnology tools used in agriculture include tissue culture, molecular characterization, marker assisted selection, molecular diagnostics and genetic modification (GM). Currently tissue culture is applied in many countries for rapid multiplication of planting materials for vegetatively propagated crops such as coffee, banana, pineapple and root crops. However, few countries have adopted GM for crop production improvement, and for agricultural research and development (Table 1).
Table 1. Status of Genetically Modified (GM) Crops in Africa
(Modified from absafrica.org)
Application stage | No. of Countries | Country Names |
Commercial production | 3 | Burkina Faso; Egypt; South Africa |
Confined field testing | 11 | Burkina Faso; Cameroon; Egypt; Ethiopia; Ghana; Kenya; South Africa; Uganda; Nigeria; Malawi; Swaziland |
Contained research | At least 16 | Burkina Faso; Cameroon; Egypt; Ethiopia; Ghana; Kenya; Mali; Mauritius; Namibia; Nigeria; South Africa; Tanzania; Tunisia; Uganda; Zimbabwe; Malawi; Swaziland |
Developing capacity for research and development | At least 28 | South Africa; Burkina Faso; Egypt; Kenya; Morocco; Senegal; Tanzania; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe; Benin; Cameroon; Ghana; Malawi; Mali; Mauritius; Namibia; Niger; Nigeria; Tunisia; Algeria; Botswana; Ethiopia; Madagascar; Rwanda; Burundi; Sudan; Swaziland |
The GM crops that are under commercial production in Africa are cotton (South Africa, Sudan and Burkina Faso), maize (South Africa) and soybean (South Africa) (James, 2014) while various crops and traits are under research and development (Table 2).
Table 2. GM Crops and Traits under Research and Development in Africa
(Modified from Karembu et al., 2009).
Country | Crop | Trait | Stage of development |
Burkina Faso | Cow pea | Insect resistance | Confined field trials (CFT) |
Cotton | Insect resistance + Herbicide tolerance | CFT | |
Sorghum | Nutrient enhancement | Regulatory approval | |
Kenya | Maize | Water efficient | CFT |
Cotton | Insect resistance | CFT | |
Cassava | Brown streak virus resistance | CFT | |
Mosaic virus resistance | CFT | ||
Sweet potato | Virus resistance | CFT | |
Sorghum | Nutrient enhancement | CFT | |
Uganda | Cotton | Insect resistance and herbicide tolerance | CFT |
Banana | Bacterial wilt resistance | CFT | |
Fungus resistance | CFT | ||
Nematode resistance | CFT | ||
Nutrient enhancement | CFT | ||
Cassava | Mosaic virus resistance | CFT | |
Brown streak virus resistance | |||
Sweet potato | Virus resistance | CFT | |
Maize | Insect resistance | CFT | |
Maize | Water efficient | CFT | |
Rice | Nitrogen efficiency and drought tolerance | CFT | |
Potato | Late blight Fungus resistance | Pending approval | |
Nigeria | Cassava | Nutrient enhancement | CFT |
Mosaic virus resistance | CFT | ||
Brown streak virus resistance | CFT | ||
Sorghum | Nutrient enhancement | CFT | |
Cowpea | Insect resistance | CFT | |
Rice | Nitrogen-use, water-efficient and salt-tolerance | Permit granted but trial yet to commence | |
Malawi | Cotton | Insect resistance | CFT |
Cow pea | Insect resistance | CFT | |
Ghana | Cowpea | Insect resistance | CFT |
Cotton | Insect resistance | Multi-location trials (MLT) | |
Herbicide tolerance | CFT | ||
Herbicide tolerance x Insect resistance (Stack) | CFT | ||
Rice | Nitrogen efficient and salt tolerance | CFT | |
South Africa | Maize | Drought tolerance | CFT |
Herbicide tolerance | Field trials (FT) | ||
Insect resistance | FT | ||
Insect resistance and herbicide tolerance | FT | ||
Viral resistance | CFT | ||
Sorghum | Nutrient enhancement | CFT | |
Cassava | Starch enhancement | GHT | |
Cotton | Herbicide tolerance | FT | |
Insect resistance and herbicide tolerance | FT | ||
Potato | Insect resistance | FT | |
Sugar cane | Alternative sugar | FT | |
Egypt | Maize | Insect resistance | FT |
Cotton | Salt tolerance | GHT | |
Wheat | Drought tolerance | FT | |
Fungus resistance | GHT | ||
Salt tolerance | Lab | ||
Potato | Virus resistance | FT | |
Banana | Virus resistance | Lab | |
Cucumber | Virus resistance | FT | |
Melon | Virus resistance | FT | |
Squash | Virus resistance | Lab | |
Tomato | Virus resistance | Lab | |
Swaziland | Cotton | Insect resistance | FT |
Many African countries have developed or are in the process of developing regulatory systems for modern biotechnology application (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Status of Biosafety Regulation in Africa
Source: ABNE
To date, July 2015, 49 African countries have ratified the Cartagena Protocol of Biosafety. For more information about the biosafety systems and enabling environment in Africa, please see Legal Section link . A number of initiatives have been taken by various players including:
- United Nations Environment Programme – Global Environment Facility (UNEP-GEF),
- African Union (AU) Biosafety Project, New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)
- Africa Biosciences Initiatives and African Biosafety Network of Expertise (ABNE),
- Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA),
- West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF/WECARD),
- Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA)- African Biotechnology Biosafety Policy Platform (ABBPP),
- African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF),
- Program for Biosafety Systems (PBS),
- Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project II (ABSPII), and
- NGOs like AfricaBio, International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA)- AfriCenter, African Biotechnology Stakeholders Forum (ABSF) and Africa Harvest Biotechnology Foundation International (AHBFI) to facilitate development and safe application of GM crops in Africa.
- Biosafety Resource Network (BRN)
- Biosafety South Africa
- FAO’s Biotechnologies in Developing Countries; Country Profiles
- Freedom to Innovate: Biotechnology in Africa’s Development (2007). AU-NEPAD 24-36
Literature Cited
- James, Clive (2008). Global status of commercialized biotech/GM crops: 2008. ISAAA Brief No. 39
- Karembu, M., Nguthi F. and Ismail H. (2009) Biotech Crops in Africa: The Final Frontier, ISAAA AfriCenter
- UNECA (2009). Challenges to agricultural development in Africa. Economic Report on Africa 2009: Developing African Agriculture through Regional Value Chains, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) 117-133
- Agricultural biotechnology products on the market – Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO)
- Examples of plant products of biotechnology – International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA)
- ISAAA executive summary on global agricultural biotechnology – International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), 2007
- ISAAA Executive Summary on Global Agricultural Biotechnology – International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), 2007
Status of Biotechnology in Various Countries
- General search of GM crops in Africa – Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
- GM crops at various stages of release: International database – ILSI Center for Environmental Risk Assessment