Take biotechnology to the grassroots

Africa has long debated the development and use of biotechnologies such as genetically modified organisms.

Proponents point to their potential for solving economic, social and environmental challenges, highlighting their nutritional benefits, for example, or the environmental benefits achieved through reduced pesticide use.

Critics focus on the low public funding available, problems with intellectual property rights, limited human capacity, poor infrastructure and biosafety issues.

But what has been largely absent from the debate is a consideration of how African socio-cultural realities affect biotechnology development.

Appropriate biotechnology
To ensure that biotechnology is appropriate, effective and sustainable, its intended users must be involved in its development, and it must improve their capacity rather than create ties of dependency.

For example, communities need to be empowered to use biotechnology to produce locally grown food, rather than rely on imports.

My own research on community-based food technologies in Ghana suggests that people adopt technologies more readily if they are involved in their development and if they hold power over the decisions that affect them.

To do this, researchers and policymakers must have a full understanding of public interests and concerns through socio-cultural analysis.

Socio-cultural analysis involves several steps, the first of which is identifying and characterising the target groups and institutions involved or affected by biotechnology development.

These include small-scale farmers, processors and general consumers. This helps identify the factors constraining local people’s access to, and effective use of, biotechnology.

This is particularly important for biotechnology research and development aimed at alleviating poverty.

Plant biotechnology research and development to address food insecurity should involve the small-scale farmers who guard the genetic resources and indigenous knowledge that are essential for preserving biodiversity and assessing the suitability of new crop varieties.

It must also involve local researchers and extension agents who play vital roles in developing, disseminating and adopting the technology.

Second, socio-cultural analysis involves establishing an in-depth understanding of the cultures and identities of the intended beneficiaries, as well as the interdependence of the cultural, economic and ecological factors.

For example, the use of tissue culture and molecular makers in plant biotechnology should reflect farming practices in the region.