Factors influencing adoption of genetically modified crops in Africa

Figures & data

Table 1: Genetically modified crop adoption in Africa (hectares planted in 2012)

	Crop
Country	Cotton	Soybean	Maize	Total
Burkina Faso	313 781	0	0	313 781
Egypt	0	0	1 000	1 000
South Africa	11 000	450 000	2 430 000	2 891 000
Sudan	20 000	0	0	20 000
Total	344 781	450 000	2 431 000	3 225 781

Source: Compiled from James (2012).

Figure 1: Key factors influencing adoption

Table 2: Ministerial control of biosafety

	Biosafety under a ministry of agriculture	Biosafety under a ministry of environment
Country	Botswana*, DR Congo, Ghana*, Guinea*, Lesotho*, Mauritius, South Africa, Tanzania, Zimbabwe	Angola, Benin, Botswana*, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Djibouti, DR Congo*, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana*, Guinea*, Guinea Bissau, Lesotho*, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda
Current GM policy (%)	56	21
Draft GM policy (%)	11	21
No GM policy (%)	33	58
Total	9	29
Average year adopted	2004	2007

Note: *Countries with biotechnology policies and regulations under both ministries.

Figure 2: Timing of biotechnology legislation enactment in Africa

Figure 3: African countries’ seed sector stage compared with their GMO application stage

Table 3: Seed sector development versus GMO application stages

Seed sector stage	Country	GMO application stage		Policy	Ban on GMOs
5	South Africa	4	commercial release	1997	No
4	Kenya	3	contained field trials	2006	Yes
4	Malawi	3	contained field trials	2008	No
4	Uganda	3	contained field trials	2008	No
4	Zambia	1	developing capacity for R&D	2003	Yes
4	Zimbabwe	2	contained research	2005	Yes
3	Burkina Faso	4	commercial release	2004	No
3	Ethiopia	1	developing capacity for R&D	–	Yes
3	Ghana	2	contained research	2011	No
3	Nigeria	3	contained field trials	2012	No
3	Tanzania	2	contained research	2009	Yes
2	Botswana	1	developing capacity for R&D	2010	No
2	Burundi	1	developing capacity for R&D	–	No
2	Cameroon	2	contained research	2003	No
2	Cote d'Ivoire	0	none	–	No
2	Madagascar	1	developing capacity for R&D	–	Yes
2	Mali	2	contained research	–	No
2	Mozambique	0	none	–	Yes
2	Niger	1	developing capacity for R&D	–	No
2	Rwanda	1	developing capacity for R&D	2000	No
2	Senegal	1	developing capacity for R&D	–	No
2	Tunisia	2	contained research	–	No
1	Angola	0	none	–	Yes
1	Central Africa	0	none	–	No
1	DR Congo	0	none	–	No
1	Liberia	0	none	–	No
1	Sierra Leone	0	none	–	No
1	South Sudan	0	none	–	No

Note: R&D = research and development.

Figure 4: Flowchart of biotechnology policy drivers

Table 4: Technical capacity of countries and GMO policy presence

	GMO technical capacity^a
Policy	Low	Medium	High
Current (%)	10	41	88
Draft (%)	17	35	0
None (%)	60	12	13
Unanswered (%)	10	12	0
Total	30	17	8

Note: ^aCapacity ratings according to the African Centre for Biosafety (Moola & Munnik, 2007).

James, C, 2012. Global status of commercialized biotech/GM crops: 2012. ISAAA Brief No. 44. ISAAA: Ithaca, New York. http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/briefs/44/executivesummary/ Accessed 27 November 2013.

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Moola, S & Munnik V, 2007. GMOs in Africa: Food and agriculture. African Centre for Biosafety, Status Report 2007. http://stopogm.net/sites/stopogm.net/files/GMOAfrica.pdf Accessed 27 November 2013.

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