B4FA – The Week in Review
Week of 2 December 2012
Could 100 million-year-old regions DNA of a papaya or poplar tree hold clues to how specific genes are turned ‘on’ or ‘off’? According to researchers at the University of Warwick, yes, the four species they have studied could provide clues that could eventually help researchers address challenges in staple crops which could help improve food security.
Meanwhile, a $63 million initiative has been launched – Agricultural Research for Development of Strategic Crops in Africa (SARD-SC) – which aims to improve harvests of cassava, maize, rice and wheat.
Kenya’s ban of GMO imports continues to elicit reactions, including a SciDev.net opinion piece by South Africa-based journalist Linda Nordling who comments that Kenya’s leaders’ lack of consultation with its own biosafety watchdog, the National Biosafety Authority, sends the wrong message to other African nations in the process of deciding whether genetically modified (GM) crops are right for their nations.
In Uganda, scientists have called for the implementation of a biosafety law which would facilitate the development of a regulatory system for GM crops. Currently, there is much research in Uganda but no biosafety or regulatory framework for commercializing GM crops.
Lastly, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has published The State of Food and Agriculture 2012 which calls for farmers to be more central in all agricultural investment strategies and smarter public investments R&D, education and rural infrastructure rather than subsidized inputs. Smallholding farmers are a central focus of the report.
Please read on for even more interesting articles from this week! As always, we welcome your feedback at [email protected] or [email protected] .
B4FA
B4FA is now welcoming applications from journalists for the 2013 round of Media Fellowships in the four focus countries: Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, and Tanzania.
Please share this information with journalists from these countries who you believe would be interested in gaining hands-on, interactive experience with plant genetics and plant breeding. The deadline for applications is 31 December 2012.
Biosciences – including Genetics
Discovery of 100 million-year-old regions of DNA shows short cut to crop science advances
Phys.org
AfDB, researchers launch $63 m initiative to lift Africans out of poverty
“‘Support to Agricultural Research for Development of Strategic Crops in Africa’ (SARD-SC) is a research, science, and technology development initiative aimed at enhancing the productivity and income derived from cassava, maize, rice, and wheat.”
CGIAR / AfricaScienceNews.org
Cassava: Safe and reliable: Australian research securing a staple crop
AusAid
Commentary – Biotechnology and Africa’s strategic interests
Global Food for Thought
Africa Analysis: Kenya sending the wrong message about GM foods
SciDev.net
The GM crop regulatory pipeline in Africa – within the next five years?
IFPRI/PBS
Ghana
Africa needs coherent research policy framework – Ms Ayittay, Minister
Ghana News Agency
Nigeria
Nigeria Seeks $1.5 Billion From China for Rice, Cassava
Bloomberg
How severe weather impacts global food supply
CNN
Tanzania
Tanzania: Rice Production in Valleys to Triple
Tanzania Daily News / AllAfrica.com
Uganda
Uganda: Scientists Push for Bio Tech Law
East African Business Week / AllAfrica.com
Uganda: How to Get Agriculture Working Again
The Observer (Kampala) / AllAfrica.com
Food security
‘The Global Farms Race’ and the quest for food security
Foreign Policy blog
FAO report links high food prices to biofuel demand
Euractiv
The State of Food and Agriculture 2012
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Modern methods of agriculture can help transform Africa’s development, by Dr. James Mwangi
Daily Nation, Kenya
African trade and agriculture ministers sow a seed for closer cooperation
European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM)
Kenya
Researchers get share of Sh1.3bn for food security
Business Daily Africa
Kenya bans importation of all GMO foods (video)
Digital Journal