Annotated Bibliography Entry

 

Reference: IDB 2002
Title: Agricultural Biotechnology and Rural Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, Implications for IDB Lending.
Authors: Trigo, E.J., Traxler, G., Pray, C.E. and Echeverria, R.,
Publisher: Inter-American Development Bank, Rural Development Unit, Mail Stop W-0500, 1300 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20577, USA
Publication details: Sustainable Development Department Technical Paper Series, 2002, 71p

 

Summary
          The agricultural biotechnology situation in LAC
         Conclusion
Table of Contents 

 

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Summary

A substantial activity in the implementation of the IDB’s agriculture development strategy involves designing best practice studies to define the Bank’s procedures and financing instruments in priority investment areas and to support decision-making by the governments of the region. The agriculture development strategy document highlights the need to strengthen agricultural research investments by the public and the private sectors, as well as the management of research resources at the national and regional level. Biotechnology is an important tool for agricultural research, while intellectual property rights and biosafety regulations are starting to influence the management of agricultural research in the region.

This report concentrates on the potential for biotechnology research to benefit consumers and producers of food in Latin America and the Caribbean. Its objective is to provide general guidance to IDB lending for agriculture development. The study includes policy suggestions regarding agricultural biotechnology issues in IDB-funded programs. Special attention is given to the problems and opportunities of biotechnology for developing agriculture in LAC; the implications of biotechnology for public research organizations, including aspects of regional funding for research; biotechnology’s potential contribution to reducing poverty, protecting the environment and providing food security. It also addresses biosafety considerations and consumer acceptance issues.

In this report, biotechnology is broadly considered to encompass those applications to agriculture that are based on our expanding knowledge of the genetic code of life. The broad array of discoveries could be classified into three groups: (i) molecular tools for plant breeding, including such specific techniques as marker-assisted selection; (ii) recombinant DNA discoveries which lead to the creation of transgenic crop varieties or other genetically modified organisms; and (iii) diagnostic techniques.

Agricultural biotechnology comprises a set of tools that, when incorporated into the agricultural research and development process, may improve R&D efficiency and effectiveness in producing new technologies. At the present stage of development, biotechnology can improve and complement, but not replace conventional approaches to technology generation. Consequently, when attempting to evaluate potential impacts it is important to do so in the context of existing agricultural research systems and investments that continue to form the critical link for technology delivery.

For ethical, political and practical reasons, the reduction of poverty must be a priority for any development strategy. Given its natural resource endowment and the importance of agriculture in most of the region's economies, agricultural development is not only a precondition for economic growth, but it is called to play an important role in the future evolution of global food security.

The application of biotechnological approaches to the agricultural industry opens a wide scope of potential benefits, yet many of these benefits may not be achieved if a number of important issues are not resolved. Some of these issues are related to the organization of technology and innovation systems, as well as the scientific basis of biotechnology and its interface with traditional agricultural research; others refer to biosafety considerations and consumer acceptance. There are also issues emerging from the proprietary nature of the new technologies and those that relate to the characteristics of the technology delivery mechanisms involved.

Biotechnology’s most important contributions will probably be allowing the expansion of production in some of the region's major crops without increasing the pressure on fragile environments. It is also likely to be important in connection with the increased opportunities for agro-industrialization that may arise from increased production and diversification. The importance of this contribution will depend on the accuracy of current food production and demand projections and on the capacity of conventional research approaches to develop the technologies needed to sustain the estimated increases in crop yield. 

Biotechnology holds potential for improving the competitiveness of regional agricultural

A warning is, however, in order. There is no doubt of the potential of the new technologies. They are already taking research into uncharted territory, making possible objectives that only a few years ago were considered impossible, eliminating species barriers, and expanding production frontiers. They also have a wide coverage including all crops, forestry, livestock and aquaculture, and in well endowed as well as poorer ecosystems. The potential is there, but serious questions remain concerning the correct strategies for realizing this potential given the region’s human, financial and institutional constraints. That there have been concerns and controversy about the potential environmental and human health risks from the very early stages of development of biotechnology should come as no surprise. The nature of biotechnology alters technological possibilities, particularly in the field of genetics. In some cases it creates new ethical dilemmas, many of which still remain to be made fully discussed and resolved.

Advances in agricultural biotechnology, which are driven in part by advances in medical biotechnology, are producing a revolution in the knowledge about how plants and animals grow and produce useful products. These developments in science are starting to show up as useful technologies for farmers in Latin America. To date, however, there is little going on in terms of agriculture biotechnology delivery in spite of significant scientific capabilities. There has been little effect on either farmers or consumers in Latin America and the Caribbean, and what is happening is concentrated on just a few countries (Argentina, Mexico, Uruguay), on temperate events (herbicide and insect resistance) and on three essentially temperate crops (soybeans, maize and cotton). On a worldwide basis however, more than 50 million hectares were planted with “genetically modified” crops in 2001, a 20 percent increase over the previous year.

The pipeline for the next few years does not promise much change; that is, the evolution of agricultural biotechnology in Latin America and the Caribbean will continue at the rhythm of what happens in the more developed countries. This leaves open the question about what will happen with tropical events. Only Brazil seems to have enough capacity to develop some products, but even that appears to be limited when set in the context of R&D investments on temperate events, and the additional fact that the scientific base for

The agricultural biotechnology situation in LAC can be summarized around two remarks.

First, the region has a significant level of biotech research capacity covering a wide range of production constraints, crops and livestock species. This capacity has evolved in and is limited by a very restrictive R&D funding environment. In a few countries public research capacity is supported by an appropriate biosafety and intellectual property rights (IPR) environment. The second observation is that in terms of actual commercial applications, biotechnology is still at a very early stage of development. Commercial use is mostly of cell biology and diagnostic techniques. Genetic engineering applications are

Taking that into account, this report analyzes the main challenges to increase investments in agricultural research, focusing on the following issues: the institutional infrastructure is still not in place; biosafety and IPR institutions are still in the making and in many of the countries where they are in place enforcement capacities are a problem; and the technology delivery system (small seed markets) is weak. Even if the bulk of investments and innovations will come from private sector investments and will be subject to IPR protection, public sector research institutions will continue to be essential (i) to develop and implement strategies to access proprietary technologies of importance for the country (joint ventures, licensing within market segmentation agreements, etc), (ii) to assure the applications of the new technologies for a more efficient and effective provision of private goods (i.e. epidemiology and areas related to natural resource management and conservation) and (iii) to make it more attractive for the private sector to invest in research in areas that would not otherwise attract enough investment due to market size or risk. Cases such as sunflower in Argentina, or tropical crops in general are examples of the type of interactions needed. There is ample potential for the countries of the region to work together in defining common strategies to deal with joint funding and execution of research that in a great number of situations are of a transboundary nature.

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Conclusion

This study proposes specific areas for the Inter-American Development Bank to support, such as capacity development; creating an enabling environment for biosafety, IPR, public awareness (to assure the safe transfer of products developed outside the region and also for local developments where good public opinion is critical); and technology delivery infrastructure (seed markets and identity preservation). The IDB has traditionally financed the strengthening of national and international agricultural research systems via loans and grants and is currently financing some agricultural biotechnology activities as components of projects. Based on country characteristics there are ample opportunities to continue and increase this support at the national level. In addition, because of scale issues there is a large potential impact of agricultural biotech investments in the context of the regional integration of several national research efforts.

 

IDB 2002. Agricultural Biotechnology and Rural Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, Implications for IDB Lending

Table of Contents

Summary i

I. Introduction 1

II. Population, Poverty, Productivity and Biotechnology 4

III. The Environment, Food Safety and Consumer Acceptance 7

IV. Status of Agricultural Biotechnology Research in Latin America and the Caribbean 11

V. Challenges for Accessing the Benefits of Biotechnology 31

VI. Utilizing Agricultural Biotechnology Opportunities 48

References 64

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