By Sylvan Thompson
Prof. Olalekan Akinbo, Official of the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), said the union was working on changing policy regulatory landscape in the 55 member states.
Akinbo disclosed this at a panel discussion jointly organised by the International Seed Federation(ISF), at 2024 World Seed day held in Rotterdam.
He said NEPAD was also helping to create enabling environment in member states working on genome editing to enable the technology thrive.
Akinbo, Technical Lead, Genome Editing Program of the AUDA-NEPAD Centre of Excellence in Science, Technology and Innovation, said Africa was turning green, and that member states working on genome editing needed regulatory guidelines.
He noted that acceptance of the technology from the government of member states was very important, as policy needed to speak to science for the consumer to enjoy the benefits of the technology.
He said the eight countries which NEPAD had worked on in genome editing, six of them had guidelines in place, emphasising that the starting point for acceptance of the technology was knowledge through capacity building, which was a strategic approach used by the Union.
“We used our continental agenda 2063 to approach the government of these countries, which was a game changer.
” When institution is built, it is such institution that enforces the policy, and when policy is in place, it creates enabling environment for science to operate,” he said.
The Technical Lead stated that building capacity in Africa also involved developing the capacity of African scientists to enable them carry out research in their laboratories.
Akinbo revealed that these African scientists were also empowered with the seed plants to facilitate and start their work.
He hinted that grants were also given to Nigeria for cassava.
“If you see the level of research that is going on in genome editing in Africa, you’ll discover that capacity building is key.
” If scientists in-country are allowed to develop the technology in their capacity, when the big industries bring their products in, acceptance level will be high because they’re already familiar with the product.
“They won’t be seeing it as influence from outside that want to take over their market,” Akinbo said.
Reacting to challenges of complex policy landscape in unlocking full potentials of plant breeding innovation across frontiers, he said the issue of import permit remained critical.
He told the panel that it was mandatory for International Seed Organisations to obtain phytosanitary permit before importing seeds into the 55 member states because these were sovereign territories.
He added that approval must also be obtained from the biosafety regulatory body of these countries before Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) were allowed to enter.
He noted that member states which they had carried out work, were able distinguish between GMO and Genome editing.
Accordingly, GMO refers to organisms that has had their characteristics changed through modification of their Deoxyribonucleic acid(DNA), the molecule that carries genetic information for development and functioning of an organism.
While Genome or gene editing involves making targeted and deliberate changes to a specific region in the genome.
Akinbo further told the panel that AUDA-NEPAD stressed on the importance of genome editing in innovation for agriculture,to enable them get in line with Agenda 2063 which was at the doorstep.
He said Agenda 2063 referred to “the Africa we want,” which is Africa’s blueprint and master plan for transforming Africa into a global powerhouse of the future.
According to him, genome editing, an innovative technology is one of the technologies on the rise globally.
He said the guidelines developed in the African nations working on genome editing were in line with international best practices.
He said Africa, unlike Europe, North and South America, was different in regards to traceability because genome editing products were not yet in the market.