The Case for Agricultural Biotechnology Margaret Karembu, PhD. - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Margaret Karembu, PhD. Director, ISAAA AfriCenter Nairobi, KENYA mkarembu@isaaa.org

IFIC Foundation EXPO 2015 Communications Summit Rome Italy, 20th May 2015

The Case for Agricultural Biotechnology

Presentation Overview

• THE GLOBAL CHALLENGE
• GLOBAL ADOPTION 1996-2014 (19 YEARS)
• PROGRES IN AFRICA
• LESSONS FROM ABBC-2015 ON EFFECTIVE

MESSAGING

ISAAA---www.isaaa.org

• A Not-for-Profit Charity, co-sponsored by

public and private sector organizations

• ISAAA is a Pro-Choice Organization
• Share knowledge on crop biotechnology

FREELY whilst respecting the rights of others to make their own decisions

• Ensure global society is well informed about

the attributes and potentials of crop biotech applications

ISAAA’s Global Knowledge Sharing Initiative (www.isaaa.org/kc) Network of 24 Biotechnology Information Centers (BICs)

Philippines ISAAA’s Global KC

Indonesia Malaysia Brazil China India Egypt

Kenya

South Africa Thailand Mali Pakistan Russia Bulgaria Sri Lanka Spain Italy Japan Burkina Faso Bangladesh ISAAA AmeriCenter

Vietnam

Knowledge and Experience Sharing

Uganda

ISAAA is a Pro-Choice Organization

THE GLOBAL CHALLENGE

• DOUBLE food production by 2050 with

LESS resources: WATER, NITROGEN etc.

• Population will reach 4 billion in 2100 in

Africa, (currently: 1.1billion).

Where will the food come from?

Challenge cont……

The youth are shunning agriculture for white-collar jobs in cities 65% of Africa’s labour workforce is employed by agriculture Ageing farmers – Declining number of farmers

Source: Clive James, 2014

Superficies Based on FAO preliminary data for 2012. M Acres

20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

82% Soybean 68% Cotton 30% Maize 25% Canola

49 99 140 198 247 296 346 395 445 494

111 37 184 36

Conventional GM

Global adoption(%) of principal GM crops (M Hectares, M Acres), 2014

M Ha.

I S A A A

Biotech commercial

South Africa - Maize, cotton, soybean Burkina Faso – Cotton Sudan - Cotton

Pipeline Biotech crops CFTs

RSA – maize, potatoes, sugarcane, Cameroon: cotton Kenya – cassava, cotton, maize, sorghum, swetpotato Ghana- cotton, cowpea, rice Egypt – cotton, wheat, potato, cucumber, melon Uganda - banana, cotton, cassava, maize, rice Nigeria - cowpea,cassava,sorghum

Africa Status of Biotech Crops’ planting 2014

3 countries; 3 crops; 3.3Million hectares in 2014

Challenges in Agri-biotech Communication in Africa Availability Access Packaging Knowledge gaps ABBC-2015

Agri-biotech and Biosafety Communication Conference Stock-taking on 2 decades of biotech communication

Reaching out to Farmers

Lesson 1: Simplification of language

MESSAGING FOR FARMERS

• Increased productivity
• Reduced cost of

production

• Increased environmental

tolerance- DROUGHT

• Better markets

Best Practices Seeing-is-believing study tours Generate language with farmers Most effective channel is Radio

Create:

Fear Anxiety Mistrust Derails policy

Lesson 2: Mass media sensations…

Best practice: Media are key partners, enhance their capacity for accurate messaging

Best Practice:

Showcase successful case studies through seeing-is-believing study tours Build Champions for sustained political support Engage consistently!

Lesson 3: Messaging for Policy makers: Relevance

Production of Major Crops: Africa versus Global (2013)

Crop Year Maize Sorghum Pulses Banana Cassava Yield (t/ha) 2013 (Africa) 2 0.9 0.6 11.3 11.5 2013 (Global) 5.4 1.4 0.9 21 13.5

Source: http://faostat3.fao.org

Message: Africa needs all proven tools including agri-biotech to raise productivity, encourage youth involvement and create wealth in agriculture

Africa is a leader in ICT, can lead in Agri-biotechnologies too

Source: http://www.africaprogresspanel.org

Phenomenal penetration of Mobile phones, INTERNET Mobile money – MPESA a WINNER;