Nairobi, Kenya and Rosario, Argentina
February 12, 2025
The partnership seeks to promote research and development, regulatory approval, and uptake of these crops
AATF and BioHeuris have announced a two-year partnership agreement aimed at raising productivity through genome-edited crops such as sorghum through research and development, regulatory approval, and uptake in Africa.
The agreement will enable the two organizations to conduct trials, commercialise herbicide-tolerant sorghum products, and introduce weed-control traits to sorghum varieties cultivated in Africa. In addition, the partnership agreement will identify and develop other genome-edited crops targeting traits of importance to farmers in Africa.
“We are thrilled to join forces with BioHeuris to tackle the pressing challenges of poverty, hunger, and malnutrition in Africa through the use of modern techniques such as genome editing for crop productivity,” said Dr. Canisius Kanangire, Executive Director of AATF.
Dr. Kanangire noted that African farmers can make incredible progress, but many lack the tools, technologies, and knowledge to become more productive and profitable.
Through the collaboration, AATF will identify other preferred crops in the BioHeuris gene editing portfolio such as herbicide-tolerant rice and wheat for testing and deployment.
BioHeuris will lead the product development of new genome-edited products for Africa and identify partners to support the product development of the new genome-edited products.
Dr. Lucas Lieber, Executive Director at BioHeuris noted that Kenya and at least one other country in Africa where the regulatory environment allows gene-edited technology will be considered for the adaptation trials and commercialization of herbicide-tolerant sorghum.
“This agreement will allow us to identify other additional traits of interest such as drought tolerance or nutrition enhancement to explore during product development,” he said.
Sorghum is a significant food and nutrition security crop in Africa, with 300 million people depending on it. However, substantial losses in sorghum production occur in most parts of Africa due to weed infestations.
About AATF (www.aatf-africa.org)
Founded in 2003 to address Africa’s food security prospects through agricultural technology, AATF believes that the agricultural sector is a key foundational pillar as Africa consolidates its economic growth and carves out its new position as a major global economic powerhouse and the next growth market in the world. It was formed in response to the need for an effective mechanism that would facilitate and support negotiation for technology access and delivery and formation of appropriate partnerships to manage the development & deployment of innovative technologies for use by smallholder farmers in SSA.
About BioHeuris (www.bioheuris.com)
BioHeuris specializes in genome editing of economically important crops to bring farmers sustainable and improved varieties. The organization consists of a team of scientists, technicians, and agribusiness specialists developing next-generation biotechnology tools for farmers.
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