Editor's note: This article was distributed by AfricaBio of South Africa in July 2003 along with other materials it developed that highlighted the importance of biotechnology for African agriculture.

With African agricultural productivity continuing to lag behind the rest of the world and hunger on the rise, initiatives have been launched to bring technology, including biotechnology, to an area of the world that needs it most.

The African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF)¹ — launched by the Rockefeller Foundation in March 2003 — will help make available to African emerging farmers important novel technology developed by four major agricultural companies: Dow AgroSciences, DuPont, Monsanto and Syngenta.

"It is our hope that the AATF will be a catalyst for the next agricultural revolution in Africa," said Rockefeller Foundation President Gordon Conway in making the announcement.² "We see it as a focal point where Africans can access new materials and information on which technologies can be built."³

The AATF will work as a clearinghouse of available technologies, including biotechnology.

"It is a way of giving very poor nations the tools to determine what new technologies exist in the public and private sectors, including but not limited to biotech; which ones are most relevant to their needs; how to obtain them and how to manage them; and how to develop nationally appropriate regulatory and safety regimes within which to introduce them," said Conway in his speech to the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.⁴

Global cassava partnership

Another initiative — the Global Partnership for Cassava Genetic Improvement — was launched in November 2002 by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization to improve both yields and the nutritional value of cassava, the third most important source of calories in the tropics, including Africa.⁵

 "Cassava is the most reliable source of food for subsistence farmers in Africa, Asia and Latin America, but it is also an important industrial and cash crop that can promote rural development," said Alfred Dixon, a cassava breeder with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture. "The technologies being promoted by this partnership will allow breeders like me to more rapidly improve cassava's value and performance in the field."⁶

The cassava partnership is made of 30 of the world's leading experts in cassava research, largely from public organizations such as the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation and the International Fund for Agricultural Development. There is private sector involvement; The Danforth Center, a member of the cassava partnership, has been given a royalty-free license to use Monsanto's enabling technologies in the research. The Monsanto Fund also supports research at the Danforth Center on virus-resistant cassava through a multi-year grant.

Cassava is so prized because it's versatile — it's tough enough to grow in bad soil, and can be ground up and stored as bread flour for almost a year without refrigeration. But diseases limit production and cassava can quickly deteriorate after harvesting.

Researchers who study the root crop say that in its current forms, cassava is just scraping the surface of its potential. Over the past 30 years, cassava productivity has increased by less than 1 percent annually, compared to 2 to 5 percent for rice, wheat and corn, partly because it's difficult to improve through conventional crossbreeding. In Africa, where the average cassava yield is 20 tons per acre, experts believe it could be more than 10 times higher — 200 tons per acre or more. ⁷

Declining per capita production

The initiatives come at a time of critical need in Africa, which is home to 32 of the world's 48 poorest countries. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, cereal production in sub-Saharan Africa is now 19 percent lower on a per-capita basis than it was in 1970.⁸ Grain production is the lowest in the world at 1.7 tons per hectare — less than half the global average of 4 tons per hectare.

"The social welfare consequences of this farm productivity failure in Africa have been devastating," says Robert Paarlberg in an article titled Environmentally Sustainable Agriculture in the 21st Century. "Lagging productivity on small farms is the chief reason why 30 percent of children in Africa are still chronically malnourished. For Africa more than any other region, the problem of inadequate food consumption grows directly from an unsolved farm production problem."⁹

Meanwhile, public funding for agriculture and rural development in poor countries continues to decline:

• Annual World Bank lending has dropped 47 percent over the past 12 years.¹⁰

• Annual foreign aid by individual countries to agriculture fell by 57 percent between 1988 and 1996.¹¹

At the same time, biotech research by for-profit agricultural companies has far surpassed research conducted by universities and public agencies such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Of the nearly 1,200 field trials of biotech crops in the United States in 2002, for example, about 200 — or 16 percent — were carried out by universities or the government, according to a report from the Massachusetts-based Bio Economic Research Associates.¹² The rest were conducted by seed and agriculture companies.

While most of this research is focused on crops such as corn, soybeans, cotton and canola where there is a global market, researchers say many of the same techniques could be transferred to local crop varieties in Africa. That's why energy is being focused on technology-transfer programs.

Biotechnology in Africa

The benefits of biotechnology have already been embraced in South Africa, where biotech cotton, white and yellow corn have been approved for commercial planting.

Average yields for biotech cotton in South Africa from 1998 and 2001 were 25 percent higher than for conventional varieties, according to one study.¹³ Another study of the 1999-2000 growing season said average yields were 93 percent higher for biotech cotton than for conventional varieties — with an average earnings increase of 77 percent.¹⁴ The smallest farmers saw even bigger gains.¹⁵ Emerging farmers also said yields for genetically enhanced white corn were 220 percent higher than for conventional corn.¹⁶

Any yield increase can make a significant difference in regions where half the people survive on less than $1 per day, and three-quarters on less than $2 a day.¹⁷ According to a 2001 study by the United Kingdom's Department for International Development, even a 1 percent increase in yields would help raise the incomes of 6 million people above $1 per day.¹⁸

"In low-income developing countries, agriculture is the driving force for broad-based economic growth and poverty alleviation," wrote Per Pinstrup-Andersen and Marc Cohen in an article titled Modern Biotechnology for Food and Agriculture: Risks and Opportunities for the Poor.¹⁹

That's particularly significant given that 70 percent of the African population relies on agriculture for their sole source of income.

T.J. Buthelezi, one of the first farmers to plant biotech cotton in South Africa, says higher crop yields have helped him invest for the future in more land and better equipment. "For the first time I'm making money," he says. "I can pay my debts."  

Existing technology transfer projects

Throughout Africa, biotechnology research is being applied to improve other crops that farmers have grown and people have eaten for generations, including:

• A sweet potato with built-in resistance to a devastating virus that destroys up to 80 percent of the crop in parts of Africa. The research, with technical assistance from Monsanto, is being led by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) and the Kenyan Agricultural Research Institute. Because it's vitamin-rich and drought-resistant, sweet potato is a key staple crop in many developing countries, including those in Africa.

• Healthier bananas that can withstand the double onslaught of the black sigatoka leaf fungus and banana weevils. Researchers from ISAAA used a biotech technique called "tissue culture" to cultivate clean, disease-free banana plantlets and then transferred them to small farmers in Kenya.

• Pest-resistant Bt corn is being adapted to fight the corn-eating insects native to Egypt (northern Africa) and Indonesia. The project is one of several technology-sharing initiatives led by Michigan State University's Agricultural Biotechnology Support Program.²⁰ (Technology is being shared between DuPont — through its Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., subsidiary — and the Egyptian Agricultural Genetic Engineering Research Institute.)

• Maize hybrids that are able to resist voracious stem borers are being developed by the International Center for the Improvement of Maize and Wheat, Kenyan Agricultural Research Institute and the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture. Together, the organizations are examining the agronomic, regulatory and social structures necessary for integrating the new technology into Kenyan agriculture.   

• A hardier rice variety is being tested by researchers at the West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA). The rice is genetically enhanced to behave like traditional African rice in the earlier stages of growth — it can tolerate in dry conditions and effectively shades out weeds — then becomes more like high-yielding Asian rice as it reaches maturity.²¹

 "We need collaboration not only between the international community and Africa, but also within blocs of African countries with similar growing conditions, such as the sub-Saharan area," says George Acquaah, chair of the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Langston University in Oklahoma. Acquaah is from Ghana in Africa. 

A factory might look and operate very much the same wherever it's located, but farming is highly dependent on local conditions. So it's critical, says Acquaah, that local scientists and farmers in developing areas play a part in adapting the new technologies for crops like cassava.

Knowledge of local conditions, access to farmland for field tests and understanding of local regulatory processes to secure approvals are all important, says Acquaah.

So, too, is training, equipping and supporting researchers, he adds. While the developed world averages about 2,450 agricultural researchers per million people, sub-Saharan Africa averages 40.²² Most of the technology-transfer programs operating in Africa and the developing world include training and exchange opportunities to help cultivate local biotech capacity.  

A new Green Revolution

When the first Green Revolution was launched in the 1940s²³ — with funding from the Rockefeller Foundation — Conway said there was a strong belief that "government alone"²⁴ could solve the world's hunger problem. Now, he says, the foundation recognizes that the private sector is needed, too. 

 "We believe the combination of public purpose with private entrepreneurship and resources can significantly improve the sustainable livelihoods of the poor," said Conway.²⁵

For more information:

The View From Ghana: George Acquaah of Ghana describes how biotechnology can benefit the people of Africa. — Council For Biotechnology Information

Plant Biotechnology in Africa: A vital tool to help improve yields and prospects in Africa. — Council For Biotechnology Information

Small Farmer In Africa Gets Big Gains From Bt Cotton — Council For Biotechnology Information

Agricultural Biotechnology and the Poor — Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research and U.S. National Academy of Sciences

African Agricultural Technology Foundation — Organization Web site

Syngenta Foundation — Organization Web site

West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA) — Organization Web site

International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications — Organization Web site

International Institute of Tropical Agriculture — Organization Web site

¹ Gillis, Justin, "To Feed Hungry Africans, Firms Plant Seeds of Science," Washington Post, March 11, 2003, Page A01, <http://www.washingtonpost.com>.

² Conway, Gordon. "From the Green Revolution to the Biotechnology Revolution: Food for Poor People in the 21^st Century," Rockefeller Foundation, March 12, 2003, p. 20, <http://www.rockfound.org/display.asp?context=1&Collection=1&DocID=566&Preview=0&ARCurrent=1>.

³ Conway, Gordon. "From the Green Revolution to the Biotechnology Revolution: Food for Poor People in the 21^st Century," Rockefeller Foundation, March 12, 2003, p. 18, <http://www.rockfound.org/display.asp?context=1&Collection=1&DocID=566&Preview=0&ARCurrent=1>.

⁴ Conway, Gordon. "From the Green Revolution to the Biotechnology Revolution: Food for Poor People in the 21^st Century," Rockefeller Foundation, March 12, 2003, p. 18, <http://www.rockfound.org/display.asp?context=1&Collection=1&DocID=566&Preview=0&ARCurrent=1>.

⁵ "Partnership Formed to Improve Cassava, Staple Food of 600 Million People," United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization press release, November 5, 2002, <http://www.fao.org/english/newsroom/news/2002/10541-en.html>.

⁶ "Partnership Formed to Improve Cassava, Staple Food of 600 Million People," United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization press release, November 5, 2002, <http://www.fao.org/english/newsroom/news/2002/10541-en.html>.

⁷ "Partnership Formed to Improve Cassava, Staple Food of 600 Million People," United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization press release, November 5, 2002, <http://www.fao.org/english/newsroom/news/2002/10541-en.html>.

⁸ Paarlberg, Robert. "Environmentally Sustainable Agriculture in the 21st Century," Aspen Institute Congressional Program, May 29-June 2, 2001, Aspen Institute, p. 37.

⁹ Paarlberg, Robert. "Environmentally Sustainable Agriculture in the 21st Century," Aspen Institute Congressional Program, May 29-June 2, 2001, Aspen Institute, p. 37.

¹⁰ Paarlberg, Robert. "Environmentally Sustainable Agriculture in the 21st Century," Aspen Institute Congressional Program, May 29-June 2, 2001, Aspen Institute, p. 41.

¹¹ Paarlberg, Robert. "Environmentally Sustainable Agriculture in the 21st Century," Aspen Institute Congressional Program, May 29-June 2, 2001, Aspen Institute, p. 41.

¹² "Agricultural Biotechnology at the Crossroads," Bio Economic Research Associates, February 2003, P. 7, <www.bio-era.net>.

¹³ "Economic Benefits," Council for Biotechnology Information, <Economic Benefits>.

¹⁴ Ismael, Yousouf, Bennett, Richard and Morse, Stephen, "Biotechnology in Africa: The Adoption and Economic Impacts of Bt Cotton in the Makhathini Flats, Republic of South Africa," paper presented to the Biotechnology Conference for Sub-Saharan Africa, September 26-27, 2001, <www.agbioworld.org/biotech_info/topics/agbiotech/africa.pdf>.

¹⁵ Ismael, Yousouf, Bennett, Richard and Morse, Stephen, "Biotechnology in Africa: The Adoption and Economic Impacts of Bt Cotton in the Makhathini Flats, Republic of South Africa," paper presented to the Biotechnology Conference for Sub-Saharan Africa, September 26-27, 2001, <www.agbioworld.org/biotech_info/topics/agbiotech/africa.pdf>.

¹⁶ "GMO Maize Boosts Farmers Yields 220%," AfricaBio press release, April 11, 2003.

¹⁷ Conway, Gordon. "From the Green Revolution to the Biotechnology Revolution: Food for Poor People in the 21^st Century," Rockefeller Foundation, March 12, 2003, p. 5, <http://www.rockfound.org/display.asp?context=1&Collection=1&DocID=566&Preview=0&ARCurrent=1>.

¹⁸ Conway, Gordon. "From the Green Revolution to the Biotechnology Revolution: Food for Poor People in the 21^st Century," Rockefeller Foundation, March 12, 2003, p. 5, <http://www.rockfound.org/display.asp?context=1&Collection=1&DocID=566&Preview=0&ARCurrent=11>.

¹⁹ Pinstrup-Andersen, Per, and Marc Cohen, "Modern Biotechnology for Food and Agriculture: Risks and Opportunities for the Poor," Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, <http://www.cgiar.org/biotech/rep0100/Ppanders.pdf>.

²⁰ Lewis, Josette, "Leveraging Partnerships Between the Public and Private Sector — Experience of USAID's Agricultural Biotechnology Program," Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, <http://www.cgiar.org/biotech/rep0100/Lewis.pdf>.

²¹ Conway, Gordon, The Doubly Green Revolution: Food for All in the 21st Century, Cornell University Press, 1998.

²² Pinstrup-Andersen, Per, and Marc Cohen, "Modern Biotechnology for Food and Agriculture: Risks and Opportunities for the Poor," Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, <http://www.cgiar.org/biotech/rep0100/Ppanders.pdf>.

²³ Easterbrook, Gregg. "Forgotten Benefactor of Humanity," Atlantic Monthly, January 1997, <http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/97jan/borlaug/borlaug.htm>.

²⁴ Conway, Gordon. "From the Green Revolution to the Biotechnology Revolution: Food for Poor People in the 21^st Century," Rockefeller Foundation, March 12, 2003, p. 6, <http://www.rockfound.org/display.asp?context=1&Collection=1&DocID=566&Preview=0&ARCurrent=1>.

²⁵ Conway, Gordon. "From the Green Revolution to the Biotechnology Revolution: Food for Poor People in the 21^st Century," Rockefeller Foundation, March 12, 2003, p. 18, <http://www.rockfound.org/display.asp?context=1&Collection=1&DocID=566&Preview=0&ARCurrent=1>.