TWN Info Service on Biosafety
10 February 2023
Third World Network
www.twn.my
Dear Friends and Colleagues
Moving Beyond the Genome to Systems Thinking for African Agriculture
The reality of GM crops in Africa has not lived up to the hype: Africa accounted for less than 2 per cent of global GM crop planting area in 2019 and only 0.3 per cent if South Africa is excluded. A recent journal article draws from collective fieldwork as well as critical assessment of the past 30 years of agricultural biotechnology in Africa to assess ongoing discussions over the role of genome editing in African agriculture.
The article points out that genome editing with CRISPR is still prone to errors and unintended effects, despite the prevailing narratives around claims of precision, cost and speed. Moreover, patenting trends underway could result in a concentration of corporate control, and the integration of genome editing into biosafety legislation by African countries is very limited at the moment.
Ultimately, the authors argue that donors, policy makers and scientists should move beyond the genome towards systems-level thinking by prioritizing the co-development of technologies with farmers; using plant material that is unencumbered by intellectual property restrictions and therefore accessible to resource-poor farmers; and acknowledging that seeds are components of complex and dynamic agroecological production systems.
With best wishes,
Third World Network
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BEYOND THE GENOME: GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROPS IN AFRICA AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR GENOME EDITING
Rock, J. S., Schnurr, M. A., Kingiri, A., Glover, D., Stone, G. D., Ely, A., & Fischer, K. (2023).
Development and Change.
https://doi.org/10.1111/dech.12750
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/dech.12750
5 January 2023
Abstract
Genome editing — a plant-breeding technology that facilitates the manipulation of genetic traits within living organisms — has captured the imagination of scholars and professionals working on agricultural development in Africa. Echoing the arrival of genetically modified (GM) crops decades ago, genome editing is being heralded as a technology with the potential to revolutionize breeding based on enhanced precision, reduced cost and increased speed. This article makes two interventions. First, it identifies the discursive continuity linking genome editing and the earlier technology of genetic modification. Second, it offers a suite of recommendations regarding how lessons learned from GM crops might be integrated into future breeding programmes focused on genome editing. Ultimately, the authors argue that donors, policy makers and scientists should move beyond the genome towards systems-level thinking by prioritizing the co-development of technologies with farmers; using plant material that is unencumbered by intellectual property restrictions and therefore accessible to resource-poor farmers; and acknowledging that seeds are components of complex and dynamic agroecological production systems. If these lessons are not heeded, genome-editing projects are in danger of repeating mistakes of the past.