Transgenic Horticultural Crops on the African Continent - Transgenic Horticultural Crops: Challenges and Opportunities - page 152

The.African.Agricultural.Technology.Foundation.(AATF).has.acquired.a.royalty-
free.technology.license.agreement.with.Academia.Sinica.of.Taiwan.for.their.plant.
ferredoxin-like.protein.( plp ).from.sweet.peppers.for.use.in.conferring.bacterial.wilt.
resistance.in.banana..The.AATF.has.in.turn.granted.a.sublicense.to.the.International.
Institute.of.Tropical.Agriculture.(IITA).for.this.purpose..The. plp .gene.has.already.
been.used.successfully.in.rice,.tobacco,.potato,.tomato,.and.orchids..Current.efforts.
on. transgenic. banana. have. already. gone. beyond. the. proof-of-concept. stage. and.
shown.to.be.resistant.when.tested.against.inoculum.of. Xanthomonas campestris .pv.
musacearum .
The.International.Crops.Research.Institute.for.the.Semi-Arid.Tropics.(ICRISAT).
in. India. has. developed. groundnuts. resistant. to. groundnut. rosette. virus,. and. these.
plants.are.currently.being.evaluated.in.South.Africa..A.gene.for.enhanced.proline.
production. to. confer. drought. tolerance. was. incorporated. into. groundnut. in. South.
Africa.and.is.currently.being.evaluated.
STATUS OF BIOSAFETY REGULATION
IN SELECTED AFRICAN COUNTRIES
To.date,.there.are.11.African.countries.with.fully.developed.national.biosafety.frame-
works.(NBFs)..Some.laws.are.explicit,.such.as.the.ones.in.South.Africa.and.Zimbabwe,.
whereas.others.such.as.those.for.Egypt.and.Tanzania.are.implicit.and.embedded.in.
other.national.laws..There.are.13.countries.with.Interim.NBFs,.15.that.are.described.
as.a.work.in.progress,.and.16.that.have.no.NBFs..Of.these.countries,.only.three.have.
commercialized. transgenic. crops:. South. Africa,. Egypt,. and. Burkina. Faso.. Uganda.
launched.two.Bt.cotton.CFTs.in.2009:.one.at.Serere.and.the.other.at.Kasese..Kenya.
has.conducted.a.number.of.CFTs.while.Nigeria.has.given.approval.for.two.CFTs.on.
Bt-cowpea.and.VR-cassava.
EXPECTED ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF INTRODUCING
TRANSGENIC HORTICULTURAL CROPS IN GHANA
In.2007,.IFPRI 15-18 .conducted.an.economic.impact.assessment.study.on.the.potential.
of.introducing.transgenic.tomato,.cabbage,.garden.egg,.and.cassava.in.Ghana..The.
study.looked.at.the.feasibility,.cost-effectiveness,.and.long-term.impact.on.produc-
tivity.and.yield.stability..The.study.showed.that.the.beneits.of.using.these.transgenic.
crops. would. accrue. to. both. the. individual. as. well. as. the. entire. Ghanaian. society..
Since.the.cost.of.pesticides.for.use.on.tomato,.cassava,.and.garden.egg.is.minimal,.
the.investments.in.pesticides.as.a.percentage.of.total.production.costs.would.be.low;.
however,. in. the.case. of. cabbage,.the. costs.would. be.signiicant.and. were.likely.to.
inluence.adoption..In.the.long.term,.any.technology.that.was.likely.to.reduce.yield.
variability. was. also. likely. to. contribute. positively. to. poverty. reduction.. Since. the.
export.levels.to.Europe,.of.the.crops.under.study,.are.low,.the.beneits.at.the.farm.
level.were.likely.to.be.higher.than.the.potential.losses.in.trade.
These.indings.have.policy.implications.and.highlight.the.role.that.government,.
the. public,. and. private. sectors. could. play. if. the. farmers. are. to. realize. maximum.