Genetically Modified Crops: The solution for Africa?

 “We realised what science and biotech could do for us and threw all our chips in. With this technology we would be able to more than multiply our farm produce.” - Hennie Groenewald

Genetically Modified (GM) Crops can provide solutions to problems that traditional plant breeding methods could not solve in developing nations (Nuffield Council for Bioethics, 2003). The use of GM technology is not restricted to use by large and rich farmers, but it is also believed to benefit small scale, resource poor farmers (FAO, 2004).

Picture explaining GMO - Source

What are Genetically Modified Crops

Genetic modification is done by deliberately designing, editing and assembling the genetic sequence through recombinant DNA technologies of an organism in order to change its characteristics (Groenewald, 2020). The technology allows researchers to transfer genetic sequences to any other living organisms without having sexual reproduction constraints. To make it simpler, Genetically Modified crops are identical to their traditional counterparts but with one or two more genetic traits, making them having qualities such as being resistant to insects and drought.

Potential of GM in Africa

For Africa, the proportion of the population that can benefit from GM crops is higher than any other part of the world, as a large percentage of the African population are subsistence farmers and rely on their income from agriculture (Parrlberg, 2010). The GM technique would benefit the agriculture sector in Africa as they are more resistant to insect damage, requiring fewer chemical sprays, reducing the cost for the farmers. With new GM traits being invented out the pipeline as time passes, more GM crops that are suited to grow in Africa will be available, including being drought resistant, providing larger benefits for African farmers.

Maize supports more than 300 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa, where many of these people are maize farmers themselves. Most of these farmers have low food security and remain extremely poor as the production of the conventional trait of maize is low, and the boom in population has forced farmers to plant maize in areas where rainfall is extremely unreliable (Parrlberg, 2010). The GM technologies have solved this problem by having drought tolerant maize emerging from the research pipeline, where this new trait can reduce the risk of these farmers in dealing with climate change and drought.

Example for GM crop farming in South Africa - Source

GM in South Africa: Mini Case Study

South Africa took up the use of GM technology as an early adopter - it has more than 2 million hectares of GM crops, most of them being cotton, soybean and maize (Bothma et al., 2010). The use of GM technologies has increased the profit for both large-scale and small-scale farmers, leading to the rise in the GDP of South Africa as a whole (Gouse et al., 2010). The increase in the yield of production also increased exports of South Africa, making their crops stand at a stronger position in the international market. For the South African citizens, as the yield of agriculture production increases, they are receiving indirect benefits including health and an increase in productivity. Research has also shown that South Africa has reduced its use of herbicides and pesticides, reducing the cost of production for farmers. This also leads to indirect benefits on society, with fewer pesticides being used, the crops are believed to be healthier for people, also it reduces the risk of contaminating and polluting the natural environment.