Main Article Content
Abstract
The exploding global population is presenting a new challenge of providing food for further billions of people against the backdrop of the challenges of already existing hunger and malnutrition, climate change, emerging destructive crop and animal diseases, and the pressure being exerted on arable lands by several other anthropological demands. Providing food for the world in the foreseeable future, therefore, requires the revolutionization of the agricultural sector as it stands today. Agricultural biotechnology has evolved over three decades and has presented itself as a critical avenue for addressing the perennial food production insecurity situations; particularly in Africa and other food-insecure regions of the world. This study sought to review agricultural biotechnology in Africa by assessing its current state and the future prospects of the technology on the African continent. The adoption and utilization of biotechnology in Africa have been faced with serious challenges of ethical, religious, environmental contamination, and health risks issues. Adoption of biotechnology and genetically modified (GM) products have only been achieved in a few countries in Africa on a small-scale basis and under a few selected crops. Inadequate legislation, unenhanced public education, and the spread of misconceptions by anti-GM technology activists remain a strong challenge to navigate around for the smooth adoption of the technology on the African continent. Smallholder farmers in Africa also harbor serious apprehension over seed monopoly and erosion of the traditional seed quality with neo-colonial intentions by the developers of the technology. Anti-GM sentiments based on misconceptions are deeply rooted in many African countries, heightening fear of its adoption. A stronger and more elaborate public education strategy that highlights the benefits of biotechnology and assures the people of the risk levels of the technology, and further research to alleviate public anxiety is critical for the adoption of biotechnology and GM products in Africa.
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References
- Abah, J., Ishaq, M.N., Wada, A.C., (2010). The role of biotechnology in ensuring food security and sustainable agriculture in Africa. African Journal of Biotechnology. 9, 8896-8900.
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- Ahteensuu, M., (2012). Assumptions of the Deficit Model Type of Thinking: Ignorance, Attitudes, and Science Communication in the Debate on Genetic Engineering in Agriculture. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 25 (3), 295-313
- Begna, T. (2020). Role of Recombinant DNA Technology in Agriculture. International Journal
- of Research in Agriculture and Forestry, 7(12), 08-15.
- Betrán, F. J., Ribaut, J. M., Beck, D., & De León, D. G. (2003). Genetic diversity, specific combining ability, and heterosis in tropical maize under stress and nonstress environments. Crop Science, 43(3), 797-806.
- Bunders F.G., Broerse, E.W., (1991). Appropriate biotechnology in small-scale agriculture: How to reorient research and development. CAB International, Wallington, Oxon, UK.
- Buttel, F., Kenney, M., & Kloppenburg, J. Jr., (1984). ‘Biotechnology and the third world: Toward a global political-economic perspective.’ Politics and the Life Sciences 2 (2), 151–187.
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- Buttel, F., Kenney, M., & Kloppenburg, J. Jr., (1991). ‘From Green Revolution to biorevolution’, p. 37. See also Juma, The gene hunters, Ch. 4, and Henk Hobbelink, Biotechnology and the future of world agriculture (Zed Books, London, 1991).
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- Drechsel, P., Gyiele, L., Kunze, D., Cofie, O., (2001). Population density, soil nutrient depletion and economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. Ecological Economics. 38, 251-258.
- Ewen, S. W., & Pusztai, A. (1999). Effect of diets containing genetically modified potatoes expressing Galanthus nivalis lectin on rat small intestine. The Lancet, 354, 1353-1354.
- Finamore, A., Roselli, M., Britti, S., Monastra, G., Ambra, R., Turrini, A., & Mengheri, E. (2008). Intestinal and peripheral immune response to MON810 maize ingestion in weaning and old mice. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 56 (23), 11533-11539.
- Gonzalez, C.G. (2007). Genetically modified organisms and justice: The international
- environmental justice implications of biotechnology. Georgetown International Environmental Law Journal, 19, 583-642.
- Gu, D., Andreev, K., & Dupre, M. E. (2021). Major trends in population growth around the world. China CDC weekly, 3(28), 604.
- Guleria, P., and Kumar, V. (2018). Impact of recombinant DNA technology and nanotechnology on agriculture. In Sustainable Agriculture Reviews 32 (pp. 271-292). Springer, Cham.
References
Abah, J., Ishaq, M.N., Wada, A.C., (2010). The role of biotechnology in ensuring food security and sustainable agriculture in Africa. African Journal of Biotechnology. 9, 8896-8900.
About ITP (2019). http://idtools.org/aboutITP.php. (Last accessed on 3 July, 2022).
Ahteensuu, M., (2012). Assumptions of the Deficit Model Type of Thinking: Ignorance, Attitudes, and Science Communication in the Debate on Genetic Engineering in Agriculture. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 25 (3), 295-313
Begna, T. (2020). Role of Recombinant DNA Technology in Agriculture. International Journal
of Research in Agriculture and Forestry, 7(12), 08-15.
Betrán, F. J., Ribaut, J. M., Beck, D., & De León, D. G. (2003). Genetic diversity, specific combining ability, and heterosis in tropical maize under stress and nonstress environments. Crop Science, 43(3), 797-806.
Bunders F.G., Broerse, E.W., (1991). Appropriate biotechnology in small-scale agriculture: How to reorient research and development. CAB International, Wallington, Oxon, UK.
Buttel, F., Kenney, M., & Kloppenburg, J. Jr., (1984). ‘Biotechnology and the third world: Toward a global political-economic perspective.’ Politics and the Life Sciences 2 (2), 151–187.
Buttel, F., Kenney, M. & Kloppenburg, J. Jr., (1985). ‘From Green Revolution to biorevolution: Some observations on the changing technological bases of economic transformation in the third world.’ Economic Development and Cultural Change 34 (1), 31–55.
Buttel, F., Kenney, M., & Kloppenburg, J. Jr., (1991). ‘From Green Revolution to biorevolution’, p. 37. See also Juma, The gene hunters, Ch. 4, and Henk Hobbelink, Biotechnology and the future of world agriculture (Zed Books, London, 1991).
de Vendômois, J. S., Cellier, D., Vélot, C., Clair, E., Mesnage, R., & Séralini, G. E. (2010). Debate on GMOs health risks after statistical findings in regulatory tests. International Journal of Biological Sciences, 6 (6), 590.
Diels, J., Cunha, M., Manaia, C., Sabugosa-Madeira, B., & Silva, M. (2011). Association of financial or professional conflict of interest to research outcomes on health risks or nutritional assessment studies of genetically modified products. Food Policy, 36 (2), 197-203.
Drechsel, P., Gyiele, L., Kunze, D., Cofie, O., (2001). Population density, soil nutrient depletion and economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. Ecological Economics. 38, 251-258.
Ewen, S. W., & Pusztai, A. (1999). Effect of diets containing genetically modified potatoes expressing Galanthus nivalis lectin on rat small intestine. The Lancet, 354, 1353-1354.
Finamore, A., Roselli, M., Britti, S., Monastra, G., Ambra, R., Turrini, A., & Mengheri, E. (2008). Intestinal and peripheral immune response to MON810 maize ingestion in weaning and old mice. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 56 (23), 11533-11539.
Gonzalez, C.G. (2007). Genetically modified organisms and justice: The international
environmental justice implications of biotechnology. Georgetown International Environmental Law Journal, 19, 583-642.
Gu, D., Andreev, K., & Dupre, M. E. (2021). Major trends in population growth around the world. China CDC weekly, 3(28), 604.
Guleria, P., and Kumar, V. (2018). Impact of recombinant DNA technology and nanotechnology on agriculture. In Sustainable Agriculture Reviews 32 (pp. 271-292). Springer, Cham.