Annotated Bibliography Entry

Reference: DANIDA 2002
Title: Assessment of Potentials and Constraints for Development and Use of Plant Biotechnology in Relation to Plant Breeding and Crop Production in Developing Countries
Authors: DANIDA/ Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Publisher: DANIDA, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Copenhagen, Denmark
Publication details: DANIDA Working Paper, 2002, 168p

 

Summary
          Conclusions
          Principles for plant biotechnology cooperation
          Strategies for Technology Transfer
Table of Contents

 

 

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Summary

The last two decades of research in plant molecular biology and biotechnology have provided substantial knowledge about plant genetics as well as methods to exploit this knowledge in modern agriculture. Plant biotechnology covers a vast area of methodologies and technologies, ranging from specific tools to improve conventional plant breeding and production, to advanced and powerful tools that breaks with existing norms and principles. The potentials and limitations of plant biotechnology in relation to plant breeding and production are therefore a complex area, and some preliminary information on long term environmental, social, economic and even ethical effects has caused serious concern among governments and non-governmental stakeholders.

The immediate use of biotechnology is in crop production, where the quality and production potential of seeds could be significantly improved, more rapidly and better controlled and through more efficient use of the scarce resources than through use of the traditional plant breeding methods. The quality of seed is only one of many parameters influencing crop production, its quality and size. Others include land tenure/ ownership; availability of inputs such as seed and fertilizer and financial services, and access to markets. The yield potential and value of the planting material are, however, of paramount importance for all the additional investments in crop production. These include labour, mechanisation, fertilizer, irrigation, marketing and capital. Use of biotechnology is not an easy answer to the problems of increased and secured production in developing countries – it raises many questions as well. Questions, that we might not have answers on now. But should this lead a donor to neglect the possible potential for development in a new technology?

The potential role of modern plant biotechnology for ensuring sustainable food production and alleviating poverty and malnutrition in developing countries is at present under intense global debate. The debate is multifaceted and comprises elements such as the potential of the technology, intellectual property rights, trade, potential risks, ethical issues, as well as more ideological aspects.

As an important donor within agricultural development, Danida wants to strengthen its knowledge about plant biotechnology in order to be able to act as a qualified partner in discussions concerning possible use of plant biotechnology in the developing countries. For these reasons, Danida commissioned the Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences to prepare a Working Paper on modern plant biotechnology, addressing not only the technological possibilities but also intellectual property rights, trade, environmental and health related risks, and ethical issues. A working group was established at Danida, comprising Danida staff and external members, to facilitate the study.

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Conclusions

A large number of initiatives have been taken at the national, the regional and the international level to implement the proper legislation and technology to promote the development of plant biotechnology in developing countries. A major question needs to be addressed: Is it worth the effort for a developing country to allocate resources to establish a legislation, to ensure technology transfer and development, to develop intellectual property rights and capacity for handling, evaluation and monitoring of genetically modified plants. Why not concentrate on conventional breeding, which at present is largely unregulated?

The question is justified but the answer is not simple. With the current developments in international trade and the focus on food security it will be necessary for all countries to take the proper measures to ensure a proper documentation on the characteristics of the exported products. Secondly, conventional breeding techniques including DNA marker based breeding is increasingly protected by patents and it is to be expected that products eventually will be evaluated on their actual properties and not by the technologies used for generating them. It is obvious that the poorest countries will have to start the implementation of plant biotechnology at an elementary level while more developed countries may exploit the full potential of plant biotechnology. However, it may be essential to take the first steps to adjust to a development that very well may be inevitable.

It should be emphasised that agricultural improvements result from interplay between plant breeding and cultivation regimes as well as proper storage and downstream processing. It will therefore be essential that a holistic view is taken when planning initiatives on modern plant breeding.

A possible future step would be to promote the establishment of plant biotechnology networks with representatives from relevant public and private institutions, donor agencies, and others. The network should ensure a close dialogue and communication between the parties and assess possibilities and perspectives for future research collaboration between the industrial countries and developing countries as well as international, regional and national research organisations.

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Principles for plant biotechnology cooperation between industrial and the developing countries

1. Demand
Plant biotechnology support should be demand-driven. A survey should accordingly be performed to define high priority areas. In this context it will be essential to discuss in detail possible Danish efforts with the other bilateral and multi-lateral donor agencies, international research organisation, and in particular regional and national organizations in the developing countries.

2. Collaboration
It is essential that the support is properly anchored in the recipient country. The founding principle for collaboration must be that the recipient country either has or is assisted in developing the proper institutional and organisational set-up for future collaboration with institutions in the developed countries.

3. Compliance with international and local legislation
Compliance with international and national legislation should be ensured prior to the launching of the collaboration. Likewise, the general principles and frameworks of international risk assessment and monitoring of genetically modified crops should be an integral part of the project.

4. Focus
Plant biotechnology support should be focused. This implies that particular problems in particular countries should be addressed with sufficient resources to make the necessary impact.

5. Commitment
Plant biotechnology support should be a commitment. The necessary measures have to be taken to ensure exchanges of staff between the donor and the recipient organisation. Fruitful collaborations generally rely on good interactions at the personal level between the groups involved.

6. Perspective
Plant biotechnology support should take a long perspective. In general projects in plant biotechnology have a ten-year horizon. During the first five years the necessary tools can be made and the first prototypes established. Provided that the projects appear to be useful a breeding program of a minimal duration of five to seven years is required, depending on the crop.

7. Intellectual Property Rights
Plant biotechnology support should devote resources to negotiate IPR with external patent holders, perhaps via intermediaries such as ISNAR and ISAAA. Clear policies concerning IPR and publishing in international journals should be established prior to the launching of individual projects. The filing and granting of patents within the projects could be used primarily to ensure freedom of operation within a particular field of research, used in negotiations for getting a license free access to technology patented by others, or the segmented market strategy could be implemented where a licence free utilisation of the technologies is granted to developing countries.

8. Clear objectives
Plant biotechnology support should have clear objectives. These might be short term applied projects but could also be long term initiatives in genomics and functional genomics addressing crops and plant traits of particular relevance for a region of developing countries.

9. Technology development
Plant biotechnology support should devote part of the resources to technology development. These projects might comprise the development of new methods for genetic engineering that circumvent existing patents, diagnostic tools and kits etc.

10. Planning and monitoring
Plant biotechnology support should devote the necessary resources to careful planning and monitoring of research programs.

11. Research and donor coordination
Biotechnology support should be based on appropriate international collaboration between donors and international, regional and national research institutions.

12. Promotion of strategic Research Alliances
Establishment of strategic research alliances between relevant Danish and international public and private institution should be promoted through net-work activities.

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Strategies for Technology Transfer

The working paper “Agricultural Biotechnology, Poverty Reduction, and Food Security” published by the Asian Development Bank (2001) gives a number of suggestions to policies of donor agencies (in this case the Asian Development Bank) and a number of recommendations that although they are targeted towards the situation in Asia in our opinion appears to be universally applicable.

The general strategy is formulated as follows:

1. Address the problems of small farmers in the rainfed and marginal areas where most of the poor live, yet not neglect the problems of small farmers in irrigated areas.

2. Focus on economically important orphan crops, high value crops, and livestock to increase their productivity.

3. Develop low cost and appropriate technologies for small farmers, particularly the development of high yielding varieties adapted to the rainfed and marginal areas.

4. Develop, test, and release technologies that will pose minimal or no risks to human health and the environment.

5. Strengthen the extension, delivery, and regulatory systems to ensure that improved varieties and technologies will be disseminated widely to small farmers with little or no risk to consumers or the farmers themselves.

Governments in the region should:

1. Demonstrate a strong commitment to agriculture and rural development by providing adequate budget and staffing to the sector in general and agricultural biotechnology in particular.

2. Establish clear policies and priorities in biotechnology R&D to ensure that it can contribute effectively and safely toward poverty reduction and food security.

3. Enhance co-operation with the private sector in the development of biotechnology that will benefit small farmers

4. Set up effective biosafety regulatory and enforcement systems to ensure that the risk of biotechnology (particularly those of genetically modified crops and livestock) will be minimised.

5. Enact IPR laws that will protect and stimulate private sector investments in biotechnology in the region.

6. Organise dialogue with NGO’s, consumers, and farmers on the benefits, risks, and opportunities in the use of new technology.

7. Seek assistance from international organizations and funding agencies on specific problems in biotechnology that cannot be addressed using their own resources.

The recommendations comprise that the donor agency should:  

1. Assist the developing countries in policy and priority setting to enhance investment in safe application of biotechnology

2. Increase dialogue with the developing countries in identifying potential benefits and opportunities in the use of different kinds of biotechnology to address specific targets. As a specific suggestion it is proposed that risk/benefit analyses on transgenic cotton should be performed in Asian cotton growing countries using the experiences obtained in Peoples Republic of China.

3. Strengthen risk assessment and management capabilities in the developing countries through systematic capacity building. This may be at the level of individual countries or involve regional organisations. The long-term ecological impact of genetically modified plants should be monitored and potentially new products should be evaluated under international best practice guidelines. The law enforcement should be strengthened to ensure that the introduction and release of GMO’s follow government environmental requirement and procedures and socio-economic analyses of the impact of genetically modified plants should be performed

4. Facilitate access to proprietary technologies and encourage private and public sector co-operation. The feasibility of providing incentives for multinational companies to develop products to benefit poor people should be examined. The national capacity building in IP management and technology transfer should be supported.

5. Support for a strategic research and development agenda and associated human resources development to generate new knowledge and disseminate the results for public good. This could include applications of biotechnology to orphan commodities, ecological research to study the impact of the first generation of genetically modified crops. Regional efforts on functional genomics should be supported to understand the genetic basis of agronomically important crops and support the sharing of knowledge within the region.

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DANIDA 2002. Assessment of Potentials and Constraints for Development and Use of Plant Biotechnology in Relation to Plant Breeding and Crop Production in Developing Countries

Table of Contents

A Note from Danida 2

Foreword 4

1 Introduction 7

2 Plant Biotechnology – An Overview  18
2.1 Introductory Remarks 18
2.2 General methodologies  19
2.3 Plant Biotechnology in Relation to Agricultural Problems 41

3 Current Applications of Plant Biotechnology  63
3.1 The Industrialised World  63
3.2 The Developing Countries 73

4 Legislation and Policies on Plant Biotechnology  90
4.1 General Legislation 90
4.2 Legislation and Policies in the Industrialised Countries 99
4.3 Legislation and Policies in the Developing Countries 116

5 Technology Transfer to the Developing Countries  127
5.1 Policy Documents 127
5.2 Strategies for Technology Transfer 132
5.3 Management and Intellectual Property Rights 136

6 Scientific Capacity in Plant Biotechnology  140
6.1 Research Centres in Denmark 140
6.2 Research Centres in the Developing Countries 150
6.3 Collaborations Between Denmark and the Developing Countries 158

7 Potentials for Collaboration Between Denmark and the Developing Countries 160                            

8 Conclusions and Recommendations  165

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