Will GM crops feed Africa?

Date:10-16-2009

Could genetically modified organisms (GMOs) help feed a growing world population? Walter Alhassan of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa describes their potential and limitations in a continent struggling to feed itself.

What can GM crops achieve for food security in Africa?

GMOs as stand-alone technologies cannot achieve food security in Africa. But GMOs are very helpful for particular challenges like pests, bad soil, or droughts. They can also enhance the nutritional content of crops. The most prominent example here is Golden Rice that contains more beta-carotene, which helps to prevent vitamin A deficiency. In Kenya, there is a similar project enhancing the nutritional value of Sorghum.

But genetical engineering alone isn’t enough. A maize variety that has been genetically modified to be resistant against a certain pest won’t deliver higher yields if you do not have conventional methods that also help you improve the maize.

So what conventional biotechnologies will influence future agriculture?

Once you mention biotechnology, people talk about GMOs. But biotechnology is far more. Tissue culture, for instance, is not genetic engineering. You simply take a cell and nourish it with nutrients and hormones to get a whole new plant from which you can grow millions of clones. This is really important for crops not produced from seeds, like bananas or yams.

Another biotechnology is using gene markers to identify a specific trait in a plant, allowing the plant breeder to select traits without having to grow plants for several generations. Biotechnology also allows very accurate diagnosis of plant and animal diseases.

Pest and disease resistant GM crops are in use in Africa. When will we see nutrient-rich or drought-resistant GM crops?

Crops with higher nutrient content are around the corner. There are already tests in Ghana with sweet potato that contain enhanced protein levels. In two or three years time we should see a product.

It’s a bit different for the drought issue. There is a project in South Africa called the Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA). The researchers estimate that they might have a product around 2017.

If we are able to get drought-resistant varieties in place this would really be very important. Farmers would instantly adopt crops that are more resistant to droughts.

How much less water would these crops need?

Well, you cannot grow crops without water. And we are seeing more impacts of climate change. Farmers plant their crops and at crucial stages there is a break in rainfall and the plants die. The water-efficient maize could simply stay in the ground longer and survive until the next rain comes. But if the rain stays away completely these crops will die as well.

How important are GM crops in Sub-Saharan Africa?

Most of the traditional food crops we use in Africa are not benefiting from GM interventions yet. The GM crops used are mostly products from developed nations like maize, soybeans, canola, and cotton.

But things are moving. There is a cassava plant virus that is resistant to conventional treatments. GM varieties that can handle this virus are in a field trial stage and might be available in four to five years.

Cowpeas are another example. They are one of the most important crops in West Africa and an important source of protein. But yields suffer a lot from an insect pest called Maruca. Farmers do a lot of spraying to contain this, but still lose out. Field trials with GM cowpeas that are resistant to the Maruca larvae have just started in Ghana, Nigeria, and Burkina Faso. In two to three years, farmers should be able to use these improved varieties.

Critics say that GM-crops only benefit the big seed manufacturers. What is your experience?

Well if you look at pest resistant GM cotton in Burkina Faso, the experience is quite positive. If you compare the local, non-modified cotton to the genetically modified variety you see a yield increase of about 30 percent. The increase changes with the pest challenge, the more insects the greater the difference you will see.

The use of insecticides, and therefore costs for the farmers, decreases as well. Normally you have to spray six times, with the GM cotton you have to spray about two times. This also benefits the health of the farmers handling the insecticides.

When the product came to the markets, the farming community had to negotiate with Monsanto. They came to an agreement that about 30 percent of the proceeds would be kept by Monsanto and around 70 percent would go back to the farmers.

Aren’t these savings balanced by higher costs for fertilizers?

GM crops don’t need much more fertilizers than conventionally improved food crops. For sure if you look at the traditional, local crops, which haven’t been improved, there is a difference.

These traditional crops can grow under poor conditions without fertilizers, but then the yields are much lower. If you improve the plants, they need more fertilizers. But there is a new breed of GM crops that is now being developed, called nitrogen-efficient crops, which use fewer fertilizers than conventional crops.

How does this spread of genetically modified crops affect seed diversity?

In Africa this issue is just coming up. As more and more farmers are growing GM crops close to non-GM crops there is some aspect of gene flow. But the level of contamination will not make the crop dangerous for consumption. In South Africa there is co-mingling, GM crops and non-GM crops are grown close together and they are safe. It is not a big deal.

In Europe, GM crops provoke heated debate. How do Africans react?

Apart from a few countries there is a lot of skepticism in Africa. Most of the people we have met are worried about their safety, because they have heard all kinds of stories: these things are toxic; they will make me sterile, these kinds of things.