Governing Agricultural Biotechnology in Africa - Building Public Confidence & Capacity for Policy Making

Authors: Norman Clark, John Mugabe and James Smith

Persistent poor agricultural production and rising food insecurity in Sub-Saharan Africa have brought into sharp focus the role of modern agricultural biotechnology in human development. Growing food insecurity in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe and several other countries of the region has stimulated political and public attention on genetic engineering in general and on the potential benefits and risks of genetically modified crops. In early 2003 more than 10 African countries were facing a major food crisis with more than 38 million threatened with hunger and starvation. This is a result of many interrelated factors, including rapid decline in food production caused by bad agricultural policies, severe droughts, deterioration of infrastructure and declining investment in agricultural research.

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