Food security and plant biotechnology applications in Africa
Abstract
138 words
Africa is, paradoxically, a continent rich in resources, and yet,
lacking and lagging in overall development. African Agriculture
in facing great challenges. Accordingly, African countries have
developed policies aimed at transforming agriculture to
commercial business. Plant biotechnology has far-reaching
consequences for agriculture such as tissue culture and other
biotechnological tools, which can improve the efficiency of
breeding of cultivars and overall agricultural productivity. Use
of genetic modification (GM) biotechnology is however very
limited and is so far confined to 14 African countries, but only 3
counties have commercialized GM crops. Africa must speedily
embrace use of biotechnology to increase productivity. However,
the agricultural and food security problems cannot be solved
by applying plant biotechnology alone. Other processes as
outlined in the Comprehensive African Agricultural
Development Programme (CAADP) must be put in place and
supported by skilled human capital.
Subjects
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