**5. Conclusions**

Application of biotechnology in agriculture has increased in recent years due to unrelenting effect of climate change exacerbated by a rapidly growing population. Countries that have adopted biotechnology in their agricultural systems, for example, have significantly improved yields and other farm-level benefits. Safety of biotechnology and particularly products of genetic engineering is assured through rigorous safety assessments conducted within national and international biosafety

**171**

provided the original work is properly cited.

*Biotechnology in Agricultural Policies of Sub-Saharan Africa*

available research infrastructure and human resources.

\* and Anthony Ananga2

Sciences, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA

\*Address all correspondence to: jochieng@uonbi.ac.ke

Sciences, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya

**Acknowledgements**

Eastern Africa.

**Author details**

Joel W. Ochieng1

frameworks. However, lack of awareness on these processes has slowed the adoption of GMO in some countries, especially those with a weak policy environment for biotechnology. It appeared that the enabling policy and regulatory environment is, in early phases, principally driven and shaped by the demand (applications)—and not just the existence of capacity. That is, it starts and evolves at a pace that reflects the level of vibrancy on the "applications." In other words, governments could develop the required frameworks but they will serve very little purpose and will not "evolve" if they are not being subjected to real tests through active applications. Although it is envisaged that existence of biosafety framework would catalyze biotech adoption, the Kenya *Bt* maize situation and similar examples have shown that legal frameworks alone are insufficient to guarantee an enabling policy environment for investment in remunerative agriculture through biotech crops. Countries in SSA adopting biotechnology may require a comprehensive approach that includes anchoring biosafety laws in their constitutions and a strong political will to drive the agenda. Other focus areas are summarized under Section 4. It is emphasized that countries have to deliberately promote public understanding and awareness on modern biotechnology, vigorously improve resourcing for biotechnology development and adoption, including greater private sector engagement, and improve the

Values of agricultural biotechnology spending in SSA countries were obtained from IFPRI's Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI) database (www.asti.cgiar.org) and were analyzed with the assistance of staff at PICO

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85567*

© 2019 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,

1 Agricultural Biotechnology Programme, College of Agriculture and Veterinary

2 Center for Viticulture and Small Fruits Research, College of Agriculture and Food

*Biotechnology in Agricultural Policies of Sub-Saharan Africa DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85567*

frameworks. However, lack of awareness on these processes has slowed the adoption of GMO in some countries, especially those with a weak policy environment for biotechnology. It appeared that the enabling policy and regulatory environment is, in early phases, principally driven and shaped by the demand (applications)—and not just the existence of capacity. That is, it starts and evolves at a pace that reflects the level of vibrancy on the "applications." In other words, governments could develop the required frameworks but they will serve very little purpose and will not "evolve" if they are not being subjected to real tests through active applications. Although it is envisaged that existence of biosafety framework would catalyze biotech adoption, the Kenya *Bt* maize situation and similar examples have shown that legal frameworks alone are insufficient to guarantee an enabling policy environment for investment in remunerative agriculture through biotech crops. Countries in SSA adopting biotechnology may require a comprehensive approach that includes anchoring biosafety laws in their constitutions and a strong political will to drive the agenda. Other focus areas are summarized under Section 4. It is emphasized that countries have to deliberately promote public understanding and awareness on modern biotechnology, vigorously improve resourcing for biotechnology development and adoption, including greater private sector engagement, and improve the available research infrastructure and human resources.
