GE crops include those that contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs), or those whose genes have been edited (GEd) to mimic natural breeding processes.
Reports from the US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA FAS) list several new adopters of GE crops. These include China, which has issued the first batch of GE maize and soya bean seed production and operation licences.
Ghana has also approved that country’s first-ever GEd wheat and maize for domestic cultivation. In Taiwan, new approvals for the import of GE products for processing, food, and feed use have been granted.
The Dakar region, composed of Senegal, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, the Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and Mauritania, took steps this year to allow the entry and commercialisation of GE products.
Ghana has released its first indigenously developed GE crop (pod borer-resistant cowpea) for commercial use, while in Kenya, the road was cleared for commercial production of GE crops in November after its high court dismissed several petitions filed against the government’s 2022 order that lifted a 10-year ban on GMOs.
Mozambique has begun to draft a biotechnology law that will allow for GE crop cultivation and commercialisation, and at least one GE product is expected soon.
Nigeria has become the second country in Africa to approve the commercial release of four biotech maize varieties. At least five biotech crops are in different developmental stages, including rice, cassava, sorghum, and potato.
Pakistan revised legislation to allow for the import of GE food and feed. Two GE sugar cane varieties cleared initial regulatory approval for domestic cultivation. And finally, New Zealand, following a new government in 2023 that supported the technology, was expected to publish regulations allowing for GE crop cultivation by the end of this year.
With much of the increased uptake taking place in Africa, Dr Hennie Groenewald, executive director of Biosafety South Africa, said Africa’s traditionally anti-GE stance was changing.
“Africa sees the potential of genome editing to develop better varieties of local crops. The technology is less technical and far cheaper to apply, which means countries can develop crops that suit them, rather than wait for big multinational companies, who are using GMOs and need billions of rands to develop a new variety. GE technology puts better seed within reach of individual African countries,” he told Farmer’s Weekly.
A notable absence on the GE crop uptake list is the EU, which has traditionally not allowed such crops to be cultivated on the continent.
