South Africa
June 7, 2011
The Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU) has given the green light to boost GM crops in the region to ensure food security and alleviate poverty.
This decision was taken at its annual policy conference held in Vereeniging. The theme of the conference was “GMOs in agricultural development – perspectives of farmers in Southern Africa”. Leading agricultural experts addressed the conference.
SACAU currently has 14 members comprising national farmers’ unions in Southern Africa. Some 14 countries from the region attended the conference, including stakeholders from COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa), SADC (Southern Africa Development Community), the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, and AfricaBio. Since the conference, Mozambique has joined as a member.
Mr Ishmael Sunga, CEO of SACAU, said the conference ended on a very positive note in support of GMOs.
“Following the fruitful discussions we will enlighten our members in the region on how best to communicate our policies to farmers and interact with governments to endorse biotechnology. We will also work closely with COMESA, SADC and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa to achieve the best results,” said Sunga.
Marnus Gouse from the Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development, University of Pretoria, one of the keynote speakers, said GM crops had significantly benefited both commercial and smallholder farmers in South Africa.
Farmers’ gross margins increased, which lead to increased welfare and development of rural areas. As a result, farmers were better off. However, due to institutional failure, there were some cases where Bt adoption by smallholders did not lead to sustained development.
Up until 2008, increased farm income from GM crops for South African farmers was US$4.13 million for herbicide tolerant soybeans, as a result of saving on weed control inputs; Bt cotton US$ 21 million through saving on insecticides and more effective bollworm control that increased yields; and Bt maize US$ 476 million through yield increase due to more effective stalk borer control.
Bt cotton on the Makhatini Flats, KZN, was a technological triumph but an institutional failure due to a lack of extension services, ineffective markets, input credit problems and land ownership.
In 1997, Bt cotton adoption was only four farmers. In 2001 it shot up to over 3000 farmers. Today there are approximately 600 left, due entirely to institutional failure, specifically a lack of input credit availability.
“New GM technologies, Bt and HT (herbicide tolerant) can overcome problems such as weeds and insects but not institutional issues such as policies, politics, credit and market failure, which are to a certain degree the main limiting factors to agriculture in Africa. Africa missed the Green Revolution largely due to institutional failure,” said Gouse.
He added that, based on a 2002/03 food security impact study for Simdlangetsha and Hlabisa in KZN, a smallholder farmer who planted 10 kg of Bt seed on average harvested 16% or 110 kg of grain more than conventional maize. If a household of seven people needed 14 X 80kg of maize meal per year then a 110 kg yield increase meant 35 more days of food security.
Wally Green, acting CEO of AfricaBio, said a point of great significance to Southern Africa – and one that policymakers and scientists should take serious note of – was that of the 15.4 million farmers worldwide in 2010 who adopted GM crops, 14.4 million were resource poor smallholder farmers in developing countries who subsequently improved their livelihood.
The majority of countries in the region were not benefiting from the GMO technology, even though it had been proven to increase yields, reduce pesticide applications, increase incomes and deliver positive environmental benefits. In the case of insect control, protection is delivered in the seed, actively protecting the crop 24 hours a day during the active growth stages.
He added that progress in the region to develop national biosafety frameworks was slow.
“The best policy practices should be based on sound science and the current global experience of modern biotechnology. This is the responsibility of policy makers and the regulators within government structures. To exercise this responsibility they should consult with academics and regulators in countries that have commercialised transgenic crops,” said Green.
Enock Chikava, strategy and product management manager of Monsanto and president of the African Seed Trade Association (AFSTA), said with the population explosion one hectare must by 2025 feed five people compared to two currently.
To meet this need AFSTA is making a major contribution towards sustainable agricultural development through the widespread use of high quality seed technologies and traits in Africa.
“We aim at maximizing, protecting and enhancing yield so that farmers can get more out of each seed, which means more profitability. Modern biotechnology offers the options to meet food demands where traditional breeding techniques have not been able to solve these specific problems. We further recommend that SACAU become actively involved with WEMA (Water Efficient Maize for Africa),” said Chikava.
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