Food Security in Africa: Is Genetically Modified Technology a Pathway?

Food Security in Africa: Is Genetically Modified Technology a Pathway?

Recently, Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) rated eighty-six countries as low-income and food-deficient nations, thus, considered to be food insecure (http://www.fao.org/docrep/w9290e/w9290e01.htm). Forty-three out of these food-deficient countries are located in African continent, which has a total of 58 countries. The most affected among the forty-three countries are in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where chronic hunger, squalor and abject poverty are widespread. This is in spite of overall gains recorded in food production and food security over a decade on a global scale. Last year (2017), the FAO's Africa Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition report indicated that “The number of undernourished people in sub-Saharan Africa has increased mainly due to the impact of conflict and climate change with the situation pointing to the urgent need to build affected communities' resilience and to find peaceful solutions that strengthen food security”. The report further stated that “the prevalence of chronic undernourishment appears to have risen from 20.8 to 22.7 percent between 2015 and 2016”. Dr. Bukar Tijani, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa was quoted saying "The number of undernourished people rose from 200 to 224 million, accounting for 25 percent of the 815 million people undernourished in the world in 2016”. The malnourishment of the millions people in Africa is mainly due to low productivity. Agricultural productivity in Africa is very low, it is estimated to range between 300 and 500 kilogram per hectare as compared to the average of 2,500 kilogram per hectare in the United States. This low productivity is obviously linked to farmers’ poor access of improved inputs such as improved seeds, fertilizers and pesticides as well as proven and relevant technologies for increase productivity. FAO reported that the application of fertilizers in Sub-Sahara Africa is the lowest in the world, at 11 kilogram per hectare compared with the world average of 62 kilogram per hectare.

This gloomy picture is more scaring when one peeps into the future. What does the future hold for Africa in respect of food security? By United Nation’s definition, Food security is a condition in which all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. This means that for Africa to achieve food security, all the people living in Africa must have access to affordable and qualitative food, which can meet nutritious requirement at all times.  Food security requireents are inclusive and encompassing of women, children and other vulnerable and disadvantages groups. With this robust definition of food security, it is not surprise that African with 54 independent countries, four dependent countries, 43 of these countries are classified as low – income and food – deficient countries representing 50 percent of such countries in the World. In Africa, some people eat for mere survival as at when food is available and affordable. So, to achieve food security in Africa now and in the future, it is pertinent to consider the population in Africa.

Today, the African continent houses about 1.3 billion people, which is a distant second to Asia with 4.5 billion people out of the total World population of 7.6 billion people as at June 2018 according to www.worldmeters.com. African population is equivalent to 16.6 percent of the total World population. By 2050, the World population is estimated to be around 9.8 billion people with people living in Africa as 2.5 billion people. This figure will almost double the current population of the region. Most African countries are expected to almost double their population by the year 2050. However, Nigeria is expected to almost triple its population, as the country is estimated to have 450 million people by 2050 from the current population estimate of 195 million people. Nigeria will be the third most populous country after India and China. India is likely to be the most populous country with China holding the second position in 2050.

Reflecting back in the 1960s, the population in Africa was merely 285 million people, which quadrupled to become 1.3 billion people today. Globally, the population growth rates are slowing down, however, the populations of some African countries particularly Sub-Saharan Africa are still expanding by about 3 percent a year, enough to double the number of people in one generation as reported by FAO. In contrast, food production in Africa continues to grow more slowly than population compared to every other region of the world where the production grows higher than the population increase since the 1970s. The foregoing analysis indicates the exponential population increase as a major factor that must be considered for attainment of food security in any country. African Population today and tomorrow must be provided with quantitative and qualitative food to reduce hunger and ultimately achieve food security. This concern of hunger in Africa is what impelled the Malabo Declaration. In the 2014 Malabo Declaration, African leaders “reaffirmed the principles and values of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) and recommitted their countries to end hunger and halve poverty by 2025, boost intra-African trade, and enhance the resilience of livelihoods and production systems to climate change and other shocks”. What are the challenges responsible for the gloomy picture of food security situation in Africa today?

African countries face many constraints militating against agricultural production, processing, handling and marketing. Some of these constraints on agricultural and rural development in Africa can be linked to misguided policies, weak institutions and a lack of well-trained human resources. Other constraints against agricultural productivity emanate from insecurity and political conflicts, which sometimes resort into civil unrest. However, even under normal circumstances, the agricultural productivity in Africa is low compared to other regions. This brings the question of the need to have edge-cutting technology, which can revolutionize agriculture at shortest possible time. Can that be genetically modified technology (GMT)? Can GMT be a pathway for ending hunger and achievement of food security in Africa?

Genetic modified (GM) technology is a technique, which allows the transfer of selected genes for specific traits between species using laboratory processes. GMT is a recent breakthrough in biotechnology, a strategy, which combats debilitating and rare diseases, reduce environmental footprint, feed the hungry, use less and cleaner energy, and have safer, cleaner and more efficient industrial manufacturing processes. The biotechnology existed many centuries ago and widened its scope to include innovation in medicine; extending to its latest globally controversial product: genetically modified organisms, GMOs, sometimes also called transgenic organisms. It is this latest status that brought biotechnology to its contemporary limelight with attendant hype and sensationalism, shot it to the global footing of a multilateral agenda. Biotechnology was hitherto a non-issue or was just like any other technical breakthroughs. The first stage of biotechnology is the crops or animals breeding. Traditionally, the aim of breeding of plants and animals is to tailor the plant or animal for a certain character or trait improvement. For example, a new crop variety might be bred for drought tolerant or resistant to diseases. The process of traditional breeding involves the use of germplasm from the pool of the ancestors with desirable traits of interest and crossing them with each other, to make the progenies output carry through heritability and have the favorable traits from both parents. Since the progenies carry both half desired and undesired hereditary traits from the parents, they will be passed on and it takes a number of breeding cycles  (backcrossing) to eliminate the undesired traits and build on the desired traits. This certainly takes time. The final new plant variety or breed of animal after several years of selection will have the desired traits. This is only applicable to heritable traits, which were inherited from its ancestors along with the associated genes for those traits.  Thus, the traditional breeding is a way of harnessing the genetic resources of an organism by selective breeding. The advance level of the traditional breeding is the genetic breeding, which is fast gaining popularity and acceptance globally. What are the implications of adopting genetically modified seeds technology in Africa? (to be continued next week)