The Knowledge Centre

African Trials Herald Biotech Food Revolution

(Summary)

According to the Financial Times, 10-inch genetically modified sweet potato seedlings are being considered the "dawn of an agricultural revolution in Africa".

Bio-engineered by scientists from the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) in Nairobi- supported by Monsanto life sciences company, private foundations, and the US government, the sweet potatoes are resistant to the ravages of the feathery mottle virus which can destroy up to 80 percent of any crop. "In a country where drought has combined with weak agricultural policy and population growth to place more than 3m at risk of malnutrition this year, such crops are a lifeline."

The sweet potato trials reflect a boom in biotechnology experiments across Africa which include: modified maize and other products which will combat livestock diseases. "Success on sweet potatoes could lead to similar advances in other tropical crops, and offer trade opportunities around the world."

"We have been given a responsibility by God to manage the environment with science," says Romano Kiome, director of KARI. "Either we modify the environment for our benefit or the environment modifies us - and makes us extinct."