*4.5.2 Progress in product development*

To keep abreast with advancements in modern biotechnology, Nigeria developed several guidelines including for GM Food, Feed Processing, GM Mosquito, GM Trees, Birds, Fish, and other animals. The country is the first in Africa to validate Genome editing guidelines during the last quarter of 2020. Several processing permits were granted for food and feed from GM maize, soybeans, and others.

Currently, Nigeria has several R&D activities at different levels: research, testing, pipeline, and commercialization. To date, NBMA has approved CFTs for the

following crops: Bio-fortified cassava enhanced with pro-vitamin A, iron, and zinc; GM cassava resistant to cassava mosaic virus, Cassava brown streak disease virus, and enhanced with iron and zinc. Also, cassava was modified for higher starch; cowpea modified for resistance against maruca, HT soybeans; GM rice modified for nitrogen use efficiency, water use efficiency, and salt tolerance and GM maize for resistance to stem borer/fall armyworm and drought tolerance. The approval for commercial release has been for GM cotton (Bollgard II) to Bayer Agriculture Nig. Ltd./Mahyco Agriculture Private Ltd. in July 2018; cowpea modified for resistance to maruca insect pest and insect-resistant/drought-tolerant maize (TELA).

#### *4.5.3 Farmers access to new agricultural technologies*

The most important regulatory constraints are related to finance and laboratory facilities. The challenge in product commercialization of GM crops, as experienced in cowpea, is meeting the seed demands of farmers. Whereas in the case of cotton, the cost of seeds is not affordable by smallholder farmers, concerted efforts are being made by various platforms such as the open forum on agricultural biotechnology (OFAB), in Africa, Nigeria Chapter in collaboration with extension agents to let farmers get the right information and advisory services on biotechnology products. Nigeria's Biosafety Law requires mandatory labeling of products containing GM products or ingredients exceeding 4%, which restricts market access for GM products.

#### *4.5.4 Possible pathways for commercialization*

Access to improved seed is realized when the farmers can buy the seeds when they need them at an affordable price. Trust building is critical so that farmers as pragmatic as they are, have a positive attitude toward GM technology despite anti-GM campaigns and their misconceptions.

#### *4.5.5 Perception and acceptance of GMOs*

The Nigerian public has a mixed opinion about GM crops and their food products due to mixed information about the importance of biotech in promoting food security and the public concerns about its safety and health-related issues. A higher number of the public in Nigeria believe the country should domesticate the technology and build local capacity to develop GM crops [53]. For example, policymakers' and scientists' perception on GM technology was examined in Ghana and Nigeria using semi-structured interviews [54]. Results showed most respondents including policymakers believe the technology has great potential to solve agricultural problems. However, lack of trained personnel and weak institutional capacities present significant challenges to its wider utilization.

#### **4.6 Sudan**

#### *4.6.1 Country progress*

Sudan is a member of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CPB) since 2005. In 2010, a national biosafety law dealing with the application of modern biotechnology was issued and in 2012, Biosafety Council was formed. However, biosafety measures are only partially in place for the implementation of the Cartagena Protocol [55]. Despite such efforts by the government to develop the biosafety regulatory system, much remain to be done for the effective implementation of the protocol on biosafety [56]. The national biosafety law was amended to become

"Miscellaneous Amendments Law" (Unification of Environment Councils) and officially gazetted in Sudan [57].

The first open-pollinated Bt cotton genotype (CN-C02) carrying Bt gene Cry 1A from which is a specific toxin against larvae of bollworm was introduced by China-aid Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center (CATDC) and released for commercial production under the name Seeni1 in 2012. The Seeni1 variety was fast adopted at a commercial scale from 19,300 hectares in 2012 to 61,300 hectares in 2013 [58]. In 2016, the area almost doubled to 120,630 hectares. Seeni1 occupied about 25% of the country's total cotton cultivation area in 2012 and 97% in 2014 [59]. After the successful adoption of the first Bt cotton variety, Seeni1, another open-pollinated Bt cotton genotype from China (SCRC37) carrying the same gene of Seeni1 was released for commercial production and named Seeni2 in 2015. In the same year, two Indian Bt cotton hybrids; JKCH1947 (Hindi1) and JKCH1050 (Hindi2) carrying JKAL X-gene (Cry1Ac), were also released for commercial production [60]. The area under Hindi2 progressively increased from 7560 hectares to 33,600 hectares in 2021. The total Bt cotton cultivated area in Sudan since first commercial production in 2012 has grown to occupy about 98% of the total cotton area in 2021. In Sudan, cottonseeds represent a valuable oil and cake source. The major concern after the Bt cotton commercialization is the food safety of its byproducts; however, permissible levels for GMOs intended for direct use as food/feed needs approval from the national biosafety committee.

Recently transgenic cotton hybrid varieties carrying Cry1AC + Cry2A and glyphosate-tolerant trait (CP4 ESPS) were approved by the national biosafety technical committee in compliance with the national biosafety regulations for further testing. In Sudan, the establishment of national action plans for developing and promoting cotton exports and harmonizing its marketing policies are seen as crucial steps to restore Sudan's position in the international cotton market.

#### *4.6.2 Farmers access to new agricultural technologies*

In Sudan, Bt cotton is the only GM crop under commercial production since 2012. Additional new transgenic cotton varieties approved by the national biosafety committee are under testing and will enrich the Bt cotton variety options. The national seed industry of transgenic crops is not fully complying with the biosafety regulations due to the limited awareness of stakeholders involved in the seed industry. This has caused the sub-standard seed to be distributed by dealers.

Almost all Bt cotton seeds for open-pollinated variety are produced by the private seed sector under the governance of public institutions. The current situation of seed production could be improved with policy to guide and incentivize seed producers (public and private) for high-quality seed supply. The trend of seed demand growth in Sudan has been clear since Bt cotton adoption and requires comprehensive situation analysis to install a visionary seed production scheme.

On the other hand, not all smallholder farmers can access good quality seed because of limited financial support and a lack of farmers' organizations to obtain agricultural credit. Enabling policies are required for smallholder cotton farmers to overcome this problem and related marketing challenges.

#### *4.6.3 Public perception and acceptance of GMOs*

Sudanese public participation in GMOs use debates and its general awareness is limited. Either lack of understanding or misperception of the technology predominates. Public-wide formal and informal education on safety concerns (biosafety and food safety) and GMO utilization need to be strengthened. More engagement and participation of stakeholders along the cotton value chain would help to have a clear plan for promoting and sustainability utilizing the products of GM technology. Currently, the adoption of transgenic cotton in Sudan is farmer-driven and government intervention is highly beneficial to strengthen farmers' associations for market access and improving the benefits of Bt cotton to local farmers.

## **4.7 Uganda**

### *4.7.1 Country progress*

For the past 15 years, Uganda has been steadily integrating biotechnology into national development processes and developing local capacity. The Uganda national biotechnology strategy identified biotechnology as a tool to address challenges in the agricultural sector [61, 62]. The government has been providing support to build human resources and research infrastructure capacity to strengthen research development and innovation in biotechnology and played a dominant role in Uganda. R&D using modern biotechnology tools in crop science was initiated in 2003 at the National Agricultural Biotechnology Center. Other institutions like Makerere University and the National Agricultural Research Organization's (NARO) followed suit to join the effort. Several international and regional organizations also have been supporting national crop biotechnology R&D including USAID, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, ASARECA, CIMMYT, and Rockefeller Foundation. Through support from the government and development agencies, more than 10 research laboratories have been established for biotechnology research and development. The scientific community in Uganda has embraced biotechnology and is actively engaged in R&D using modern biotechnology and genetic engineering tools. There has been a growing application of tissue culture, molecular diagnostic tools, and the development of genetically engineered transgenic crops.

#### *4.7.2 Biosafety regulatory system*

Uganda ratified the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety in 2001 [63]. In 2008, the government of Uganda adopted the National Biotechnology and Biosafety Policy to provide a regulatory and institutional framework for the safe and sustainable application of biotechnology for national development. Uganda's biosafety institutional framework includes national competent authority, national focal point, the national biosafety committee, monitoring and compliance mechanisms, and institutional biosafety committees.

The Uganda National Council for Science and Technology (UNCST) serves as the national competent authority and provides regulatory oversight for GMO research and development programs through the National Biosafety Committee (NBC). To support the NBC, biotechnology research institutions have established Institutional Biosafety Committees (IBC) to provide research biosafety stewardship and serve as a link between the research scientists and NBC. To provide a comprehensive biosafety regulatory framework for commercialization of GM crops, the Parliament of Uganda introduced the Genetic Engineering Regulatory Bill in November 2018 to be assented into an act. The Bill was seconded through stakeholder policy consultations to ensure establishment of an enabling national biosafety legislation.

#### *4.7.3 Country progress*

The first field trial of GM crops was conducted in 2007 on genetically engineered bananas for resistant to Black Sigatoka disease. To date, the NBC has

approved 17 field research trials involving several GM crops mentioned below for various crops and traits (**Table 2**) [64–66]. The detailed summary of GM crops and incorporated traits is also partly presented in **Table 2**.

Like other breeding product pipelines, GM products require on-farm agronomic and agroecological tests under the guidance of approved biosafety guidelines. In Uganda, scientists are unable to proceed with product testing on farmer's fields to ascertain GM product performance due to a lack of national biosafety legislation and regulations. Crops such as banana (research, CFT and multilocation trials), Cassava (CFT, multi-locational trials), Cotton (CFT, multi-location trials), Maize (CFT and multi-location trials), Rice (CFT Research), Sweet potato (Greenhouse), Soybean (Greenhouse), Potato (CFT- Multilocation trials) have not been tested on farmers fields. Research on these crops has been conducted through joint collaborations involving local and international institutions such as NARO, IITA, AATF, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Leeds University, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center (DDPSC), Bayer, International Potato Center (CIP), Makerere University, and Michigan State University.

## **5. Lessons learned and future prospects**

Biotechnologies can help African country's efforts toward achieving social and economic development and contributing to the United National (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through improving agricultural productivity and increasing resilience to climate change impacts. As highlighted in the six case studies, countries in Africa are at various stages of biotechnology R&D and regulatory capacities. With the recent positive decisions made by the governments of several countries in Africa, the future holds prospects for the commercialization of GM products. Research, regulatory, and outreach capacity in modern biotechnology is seen as fundamental to the promotion of advanced science and technology in research programs including GMO and genome-editing research and development.

Identifying policy and regulatory gaps and adjusting to meet current and future needs would always be required to promote agricultural biotechnology for sustainable development in biotech and non-biotech countries. Proactively working toward building awareness of stakeholders and right public perception and relentless effort to capacitate policymakers would help to maintain the current efforts in improving political dynamics toward modern biotechnology and avoid sliding back to the old rhetoric led by postmodernist anti-GMO and anti-technology activism.

Since it took several years of negative publicity to entrench distrust among the public, it can only be undone with unyielding and consistent communication and outreach espousing, especially positive benefits to smallholder farmers and consumers and farmers as champions. Therefore, strong voices are necessary to champion the adoption of GMOs and genome-editing technologies in countries in Africa. Misinformation and disinformation, and competing interests inevitably complicate how modern biotechnology is viewed and its benefits are harnessed in Africa for smallholder farmers. The science communication should be amplified with messaging centering around a farmer and consumer benefits and contributions to UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The transitions from product development to deployment and commercialization are often difficult in developing countries. Multiple institutions from the public and private sector including the farming communities are involved to operate. This needs to be well aligned and coordinated institutional functions are

#### *Genetically Modified Plants and Beyond*

needed to ensure sustainable access and deployment of new technologies/products by smallholder farmers while keeping product integrity, quality, and excellence through stewardship. Experience shows the importance of careful handling and management of new technology with simultaneous preparation for the local seed systems to ensure that new products are consistently available and affordable by smallholder farmers. Alternative technologies are needed for widening the scope of adoption through a healthy market and avoiding negative perceptions to impinge on efficiency and competitiveness.

Farmers are willing to adopt impactful technologies that can enhance agricultural productivity and their livelihoods. However, closer consultation and understanding of their challenges is critical to foster and sustain repeated adoption of GM crops by farmers to convey a realistic understanding of the production and marketing challenges and receive necessary policy support. A clear monitoring strategy is needed for field management of GM crops and their sustainable use and impacts as well as co-existence in the farming systems of adopting countries.
