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Will Ethiopia be a springboard or a stonewall for GM crops in Africa?

Nature Biotechnology volume 39, pages 147–148 (2021)Cite this article

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To the Editor — As a systems agronomist with substantial experience in the Consortium of International Agricultural Research centers (CGIAR) and national research institutions in sub-Saharan Africa, I have followed with interest the recent controversy around plantings of transgenic crops in Ethiopia. Until 2015, the country took a vocal stand against genetically modified (GM) crops, underlined by its strict proclamation on biosafety in 2009 (Proclamation No. 655/2009)1. The regulation was so inflexible that a special permission was required to transit any “modified organisms” through Ethiopian customs. Six years later, the country loosened its restrictions in an amended proclamation (Proclamation No. 896/2015)2. The latter proclamation allows ‘the commercial cultivation of genetically modified (GM) cotton and confined field research on GM maize and enset (Ensete ventricosum), a food plant whose cultivation is endemic to Ethiopia. As a result, Bt-cotton has been under widespread production and the country has lately issued a five-year permit to conduct confined field trails on drought-tolerant and pest-resistant GM maize3. GM maize trails were successfully conducted in 2019 by the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research4.

As debates intensified following the USDA report, rather than Ethiopia’s decision per se, one explanation is that the controversy is driven by paranoia that the United States is using Ethiopia as biotech strategic entry point to expand its GMO portfolio in Africa. Anti-biotech activists often amplify these kinds of strong rhetorical statements8, which have a potential to entrench throughout the continent. As regulatory systems in most African countries are grappling with the GMO dilemma, Ethiopia’s final regulatory stance on biotech products will have broader implications. Given Ethiopia’s diplomatic muscle in the region, this forms a turning point for the fate of biotech products all over the continent and beyond. Because Ethiopia is Africa’s diplomatic epicenter, its endorsement or dismissal of GMOs may have a strong influence on opinion across the entire continent.

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Fig. 1: Timeline of events ensuing Ethiopia’s contrasting regulations about GMOs.

References

  1. Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Proclamation No. 655/2009. https://chilot.me/2011/05/biosafety-proclamation-no-6552009/ (2009).

  2. Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Proclamation No. 896/2015. https://chilot.me/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/proclamation-no-896–2015-biosafetyamendment- proclamation.pdf (2015).

  3. TELA Maize Project. Protecting maize against drought and insect damage. https://www.aatf-africa.org/aatf_projects/tela-maize/ (2021).

  4. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service Agricultural Biotechnology Annual https://apps.fas.usda.gov/newgainapi/api/Report/DownloadReportByFileNamefileName=Agricultural%20Biotechnology%20Annual_Addis%20Ababa_Ethiopia_10-20-2019 (2020).

  5. Hunduma, T. Addis Standard https://addisstandard.com/commentary-ethiopias-acceptance-of-gmos-turns-decades-of-pan-african-environmental-leadership-on-its-head/ (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 23 April 2020).

  6. Tewolde Berhan, G.E. Ethiopia Observer https://www.ethiopiaobserver.com/2020/05/08/an-open-letter-by-dr-tewolde-berhan-gebre-egziabher/ (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 8 May 2020).

  7. Bekele, H. Addis Insight https://www.addisinsight.net/are-gmos-the-answer-to-ethiopias-food-crisis/ (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 7 May 2020).

  8. Hunduma, T. Ethiopian Insight https://www.ethiopia-insight.com/2020/06/03/gmo-debate-is-democratic-test-for-liberalizing-ethiopia/ (London, 3 June 2020).

  9. International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). Position statement on genetically modified crop varieties. https://www.cimmyt.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Position-Statement-on-Genetically-Modified-Crop-Varieties_FV_Approved-by-BoT_Nov2011.pdf (2012).

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Acknowledgements

All opinions and views reflected in this Correspondence are those of the author and in no way reflect CIMMYT’s stand.

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  1. International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Sustainable Intensification Program (SIP), CIMMYT-Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Tesfaye (Shiferaw) Sida

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Correspondence to Tesfaye (Shiferaw) Sida.

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Sida, T.(. Will Ethiopia be a springboard or a stonewall for GM crops in Africa?. Nat Biotechnol 39, 147–148 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-021-00827-5

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