Genetically Modified Foods for Small-scale Farmers in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities

Introduction

In the 21st century, with the rapid advancement in technology, agriculture has witnessed a transformative shift. People are now exploring new avenues of food production, moving away from traditional farming methods and embracing innovative approaches. If the 20th century was characterized by the prominence of silicon-based technologies, the 21st century is undeniably the era of biology. One significant aspect of this biological revolution is the advent of genetically modified foods, which is the subjext of this essay. These genome-enhancing agricultural technologies hold immense potential in alleviating poverty and hunger for small-scale African farmers, as explored in Matthew Schnurr's work on 'Africa's Gene Revolution' (2019). Unlike before, today, there are new technologies that can be used for gene editing making genomic manipulation more easy and accessible (Schnurr, 2019). Controversies regarding this new technology have come up with individuals polarizing and politicizing it. However, it has helped farmers, giving them a voice. Various stakeholders, including policymakers, are giving positive support for the technology to be adopted as long as it meets end-user needs. This paper explores Schnurr’s genomic agricultural technologies, and their impact in ensuring development in countries facing hunger, especially the developing African countries.

Importance for international development

Genomics includes the analysis of living thing’s genetic composition, which is found in their deoxyribonucleic acid and other molecules in the ribonucleic acid. Genome-editing, therefore allows plants to characterize gene functions and improve their agricultural traits. Genomic biotechnology has the potential to open up new opportunities and innovations across various sectors. It is an impetus for economic growth and improving people's quality of life across the globe. In contemporary society, the global population is growing, the climate changing, and pressure to breed new novel crops that are drought resistant, and use fewer chemicals. Genomics has the potential to speed up this process, giving crops agronomic traits. In the international context, genomic sequencing is important in revolutionizing food security, sustaining agriculture, for instance, through the animal, plant, and public health and food safety. It also prevents the outbreak of diseases and the improvement of agriculture by effective animal and plant breeding. With genomic crops, the health of the growing population worldwide can be improved, and the environment will be conserved due to reduced use of pesticides and other chemicals that pollute the soil. Lastly, greater food production will ensure a longer life span. Schnurr explores the biotechnologies that can be used development and commercially. These include marker-assisted breeding, hybrids, genetic engineering, and tissue culture.

Genetically Modified Foods (GMOs) Adoption in African Countries

Schnurr argues that Genetically Modified Foods (GMOs) are not being widely used in most African countries because they are not designed to meet the needs of small-scale farmers on the continent. They are only designed to meet the needs of large-scale commercial farming in countries such as South Africa and irrigated farms, especially cotton farms in Sudan. However, for small-scale farmers, the seeds are of no value. For instance, in countries such as Uganda, the cotton seeds that are distributed protect the wrong pests, requiring the use of pesticides in maintaining them. In Burkina Faso, fibers yielded are of low quality. The researchers disseminate the seeds in a top-down manner, and they do not comprehend the economic and social situations of the poor farmers (Schnurr, 2019).

In the last ten years, there has been researched to diversify the crops and the traits under experimentation and prioritize those that fit small-scale farmers in Africa. Concentration is on carbohydrates that have previously been ignored after failed attempts in improvement. These include sorghum, cassava, cowpea, and cooking banana. Traits that appear beneficial to farmers are given priority, and these include resistance to drought, bio-fortification, and resistance to local pests and diseases. For instance, experiments are being carried out, including a nutritionally enhanced Kenyan sorghum, cooking banana that is drought-resistant in Uganda, and in West Africa, insect-resistant cowpea. The drought-resistant crops tend to produce twenty percent more yield that the regular hybrids.

While Schnurr explores all these, he fails to address the safety and environmental risks that are associated with GMO foods, claiming that they are 'relatively minimal.' He mainly focuses on government regulations and why GMO foods are 'pro-poor.' However, the big question is, is this true? First, not many countries in the African continent have adopted the use of GMO foods, and in some countries such as Kenya, the use of GMO foods was suspended, with Burkina Faso willing to drop the use of GMO seeds. Scholars such as Bill Gates have stood up saying that genetically modified foods are necessary for the fight against hunger and poverty in Africa. Countries like Burkina Faso are the largest and most significant adopters of genetically modified foods (Schnurr, 2019). However, in recent years, they have shown their interest in withdrawing from the use of Bt cotton. Why is this? Adopted in 2003, Burkina Faso was one of the first African countries to adopt Bt cotton, which made news. By 2014, Bt cotton served more than 140,000 small scale farmers. Many farmers have since embraced technology, and compared to conventional cotton, Bt cotton produces 50% higher yields and profits. Moreover, less pesticides are used, and this saves labor time. However, Bt cotton seeds are quite expensive, and despite the yields, they do not offer quality for most farmers.

Framers have come up with claims that the lint is less desirable, and of low quality, which translates to lower prices in the international market. Also, the machines produce a small amount of cotton, meaning low profitability. Farmers who deliver their cotton to companies have regulated prices, and due to the low quality, these companies are moving away from Bt cotton. This raises questions on the future of Genetically modified foods in the continent. Does it bring benefits, or is it detrimental to the farmers? Researchers and distributors of genetically modified crops do not take into account the needs of the poor small-scale farmers. In Kenya, genetically modified foods have raised the question of health and safety with diseases such as cancer spreading and cases increasing. Experiments done to prove this by giving rats GM maize proved high rates of cancer, and this prompted the government to ban these foods. However, the ban was lifted, and it is one of the few countries in Africa that have adopted the use of GM foods.

Schnurr also fails to look into alternative reasons why GMO foods have failed in Africa. However, in chapter two of his book, he focuses on the rules and regulations enforced by governments as the reason why African countries have not embraced the use of genetically modified foods. Regulations limit countries from using genetically modified crops or selling products of genetically modified foods (Rotimi, 2019). Before genetically modified foods are released into Africa, governments require a regulatory regime that conforms to food safety and environment standards. Most donating companies are always willing to operate in countries with no such regulation, for example, Kenya. This has created debates over the regulations and the potentiality of African countries to adopt genetically modified crops that will transform agriculture. Recently, such companies are pushing for regulatory efforts at the regional and continental levels, with people aiming to have a centralized mechanism that caters to all African countries. They claim that 'one-size-fits-all' is necessary to allow for genetically modified foods to be distributed all over the continent (Shilomboleni, 2020).

In countries such as Uganda, an analysis conducted on the regulatory process of genetically modified foods shows an overlap between the institutions and personnel responsible for promoting and regulating this biotechnology. The analysis shows that the people who make are invested in ensuring that the technology is a success are the same people who make decisions on accountability and the oversight of the technology. Various proponents have argued that for the technology to be a success in the African continent, political will is needed to improve the current regulatory structures for safe consumption of genetically modified foods. However, the real challenge lies in making distinct promotion and regulation due to the limited domestic capacity for most African countries (Schnurr, 2019). South Africa and Kenya are the few countries that have legalized the planting of genetically modified foods, and they have been a major success. In Kenya, planting of GMO crops is legalized with the government’s top priority as ensuring food security. Countries such as Malawi, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Uganda, Mozambique, Cameroon, and Swaziland are new players in adopting genetically modified foods. Among these countries, only Ethiopia and Nigeria allow for commercial planting of GM crops, with cotton as the only crop planted. This means that governments do not legalize the planting of food crops.

While Schnurr has done an extensive analysis, country per country, on the use of genetically modified foods, he underestimates the reason behind the cause of Africa's strict regulation on the use of GMOs in Africa. The precautions were brought in by Europe through National Government Organizations, the United Nations system, and assistance from foreign national agencies. In Europe, the use of genetically modified foods has been kept out of farm fields because of the high regulations and standards that many corporations do not meet. The organization of African Unity (OAU) has an African Model Law which promotes the current policies, and this solidified due to assistance from a German foreign assistance project. Countries such as Zambia have rejected genetically modified food aids, but no role has been given to European NGOs (Makaure, 2019). Some of the information given to Africans is misleading. For instance, an organization in the United Kingdom informed Zambians that GMO maize might introduce a retrovirus that is the same as that of HIV.

Schnurr also looks into the efforts made by individuals and organizations supporting the use of genetically modified crops in Africa. These include USAID and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. USAID came up with a program, Program for Biosafety Systems (PBS), which allowed Africans to assess the risks associated with GMOs, through the examination of the seeds. Moreover, the Bill and Gates Foundation has launched programs such as Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). However, when these technologies were introduced, leaders such as Kofi Annan removed genetically modified foods as one of the technologies that the continent would develop.

The African continent's real question to move forward is how the small-scale farmers will receive the second generation of genetically modified crops. Many interest groups and personnel are coming forward to support the issue of adopting GMOs, speaking on behalf of the farmers, but what about the farmer's perspective? No one is sure of the use of these technologies, but it is clear that a shift in concentration should be made from macro to micro suitability of genetically modified agricultural technology because farmers face many challenges on the ground. More research should also be done on second-generation GM crops to determine their neutrality in terms of scale. Research done on first-generation genetically modified crops already revealed that only wealthy farmers benefit from this agricultural technology. Also, new breeding technologies are emerging, advanced in nature, and offer a high-precision way of editing a plant’s genome. This new technology leaves the crops without genes that are foreign to the species, and this has brought a debate over the ethical concerns of genetically modified foods. This has created pressure for donors, especially those organizations that focus specifically on genomic technology. New projects such as Cultivate Africa’s Future project have been launched, with their technology specifically focusing on looking at hunger at a technical rather than political problem. Outside interests and private organizations and the appropriateness of genetically modified foods for African farmers are still questions to be answered.

However, I feel that the question that should be asked here is whether we are going pro or anti on genetically modified crops. Researchers and policies aim at either fully going on or not at all in approaching the African future in GM foods. However, they need to look at the sense of these foods in addressing the needs of African farmers, especially small-scale farmers.

The information provided by Schnurr on genomic agricultural technologies can be used for the better, especially for researchers who wish to venture into case studies. His information on the use of various genetically modified crops in Africa is up to date. For instance, he outlines the use of water and insect resistant maize in Kenya and South Africa, and the use of Bt cotton in Burkina Faso, South Africa, and Sudan. Looking at the international context, countries such as China and India are using Bt cotton for small-scale farming (Gouse, Sengupta, Zambrano, & Zepeda, 2016). The good thing is that it has been a success and the same can happen for Africa. Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania are some countries that grow cotton and deserve the opportunity to try the use of these seeds in their farms.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Schnurr paints a bigger picture of the use of genetic modification technology in Africa. Most countries have not adopted the technology because it fails to meet their needs. Moreover, the seeds are too expensive, and only the wealthy farmers can afford them. To ensure its success, researchers and policymakers have to focus on meeting the needs of small-scale farmers because that is where the market and the challenges reside. If the needs of farmers are met, then they will be able to embrace genetically modified crops, and as Norman Borlaug states, 'take it to the farmer.'

References

1. Gouse, M., Sengupta, D., Zambrano, P., & Zepeda, J. F. (2016). Genetically modified maize: less drudgery for her, more maize for him? Evidence from smallholder maize farmers in South Africa. World Development, 83, 27-38.
2. Makaure, C. (2019). An analysis of public perception towards consuming genetically modified crops and the acceptance of modern agricultural biotechnology: a South African case study (Doctoral dissertation).
3. Rotimi, C. N. (2019). 14 Enabling Genomic Revolution in Africa. The Genetics of African Populations in Health and Disease, 320.
4. Schnurr, M. A. (2019). Africa's gene revolution: genetically modified crops and the future of African agriculture. McGill-Queen's Press-MQUP.
5. Shilomboleni, H. (2020). Political economy challenges for climate smart agriculture in Africa. Agriculture and Human Values, 1-12.