Genetic engineering: Just a matter of time for Africa

By Nigist Tilahun
African Science News
February 22, 2007

Habahikunda Maturo resides in rural Arusha in Tanzania .She is one of the model farmers who have been engaged in growing bananas that are developed with tissue culture. Living in Arusha where bananas are considered part of people’s daily diet Maturo makes about USD1 or TSh 5000 per branch of her banana trees. She says her life has shown an improvement after getting involved in a project that helped her grow bananas developed through tissue culture .

It is the cultivation of plant cells, tissues or organs to develop plant varieties expressing good characteristics. The 36 demonstration farms in Arusha, Tanzania are examples of how biotechnology can revolutionize farming in Africa.

Dr. Ally Mbwana also known Dr. Banana among farmers in Arusha says tissue culture has enabled bananas to become commercial fruit. The bananas being grown here at the demonstration farms are disease resistant and sweeter and bigger in size. Farmers in Arusha are now having a growing demand for their bananas..

They are exporting them to Kenya especially in Mombassa and Nairobi Experts believe that another scientific intervention that can really impact the lives of African farmers is Genetic Modification; the changing of the genetic make up of an organism using DNA technology.

Unlike tissues culture the implementation of genetically modified products has been receiving negative publicity in Africa claiming that it’s unnatural and violates the limits of what humans are supposed to achieve. The 1994 ripening tomato became the first genetically modified food crop to be produced and consumed in an industrialized country.

Currently worldwide more than 67 million hectares or about 167 million acres of genetically modified crops are grown while corn, cotton and soybean are some of the crops being grown in these areas. The idea of adopting GM products has also created divisions among experts themselves. The debate features economics, politics, environmnet and religion. Some say that sharing of DNA among living forms is a natural phenomenon.

Genetically Modified crops have delivered benefits in crop production having improved characteristics such as growing faster, drought tolerance and increase in production among others . The issue of safety has been the center of the debate circling around adopting Genetically Modified products. The leading question so far is “Are GM crops safe to eat?”.

Many activists continue to allege disease links to GM crops which other advocates refute saying that there is no evidence to such claims. In addition environmental concerns have also been raised by many scientists .Environmental risks relate to the potential of the unintentional breeding of a domestic crop with a related plant risking the creation of new weeds. Activist on GM crops state that extensive testing and a long approval process should accompany every GM crop production including food and environmental safety.

The United Nation Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on its 2004 report indicate that thus far there have been no verifiable reports of transgenic crops causing any health or environmental harm. Although it has not been yet signed by the USA, one of the largest producers of GM crops in the world, the Cartegna Protocol of 2000 provides a legally binding protocol to the convention on biological diversity. It has been hard to revert the negative pubility genetic engineering has received in Africa partly because of the mixed messages coming out from experts arguing for and against of the adoption of GM crops.

Elsewhere in the world things are improving slowly. The 2006 global status of commercialized GM crops report state that the number of countries growing GM crops has grown to 22, half of which are from the developing world. Experts fear that Africa might once again remain behind and yet it’s the continent that most needs the product given the food in security and growing population the continent has. In Tanzanian some politicians are promising to advocate for the adoption of GM food .Hon John Paul Shibuda is one of them.“I have seen what tissue culture have done to improve the livelihood of farmers .I will advocate for the adoption of GM crops if the health and environmental safety is assured.”

Others such as Ethiopian award winning environmentalist Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher are keen on the need to have the safety assurance. In the meantime, while the debate is going on, GM products are coming to Africa. If not in purchase, in forms of aid. There have been cases of controversies in many African countries on whether to receive this GM crops. Many say the ultimate solution for Africa to make its own decision on the matter would be to increase its production and become food self sufficient which doesn’t seem to happen soon.