Research into GM crops critical to ending hunger - IFPRI

Research into genetically modified (GM) crops is crucial to improving food security and reducing poverty in Africa, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). "Food security is of serious concern to the African continent and public sector research into GM foods is of direct importance to the smallholder farmers, who need something both to eat and to sell," said Joel Cohen, IFPRI senior research fellow, at a media briefing on Thursday on biotech crop research in Nairobi, Kenya. "Current biotech research has the potential to reduce the use of pesticides, increase drought tolerance and improve the nutritional value of staple foods," IFPRI said in a statement on Wednesday. Cohen, who was presenting the findings of a study on the development of GM crops by public research institutes in Egypt, Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe, stressed that despite the common view that corporations drove the GM food agenda, a few African countries had vibrant public biotech research programmes. IFPRI said improvements in crops brought about by public biotech research could "benefit the environment, improve health, reduce the cost of food and increase the incomes of poor smallholder farmers throughout Africa". According to the organisation, a 10 percent increase in the level of agricultural productivity was associated with a 7.2 percent reduction in poverty. Cohen said research into GM crops by African governments often targeted the improvement of indigenous plant varieties relevant to local use by small-scale farmers. Kenya, for example, was engaged in public biotech research into producing drought-resistant maize; Uganda was involved in researching insect-resistant bananas. He emphasised the importance of GM research in Africa reaching a stage where it could help the farmers, noting that "if the research stays in the lab, there will be no benefit to the farmers". However, the introduction of GM seeds into African soil and GM crops into indigenous markets is an issue that remains extremely contentious; critics have argued that biotechnology is not the solution to Africa's poverty and hunger. "We have not exploited research into conventional seeds enough," Angela Wauye, officer in charge of food security at Action Aid Kenya, told IRIN. "In Kenya, we are not ready to handle GM crops - we do not even have a biosafety bill in place." Cohen stressed that the agency was interested in "biosafety first", saying all plants produced by the various public biotech research institutes were submitted for review to the relevant national biosafety channels and regulatory bodies. "We must address the real reasons our agricultural sector is performing so dismally," Wauye said. "Poor farmers must be empowered by the government to be able to access credit, cheaper farm inputs and better infrastructure." She pointed out that "because of poor roads, transporting crops from Marsabit [northern Kenya] to [the eastern Kenyan port of] Mombasa is more expensive than transporting the goods from Mombasa to Europe." Wauye also said not enough was known about the effects of GM crops on the environment and on human health. "We may not have seen any effects of GM crops so far, but more research needs to be done into their side effects over prolonged periods." Although research was a very important component of the struggle to end hunger, Wauye noted that it was important to focus the research on issues that were relevant to Africa. "The research must be driven by national needs - we must be our own agenda-setters," she added.