John Mugabe, Ph.D., Executive Director, African Centre for Technology Studies, Nairobi, Kenya | September 14, 2000
The growing international debate on safety of genetically modified products of modern biotechnology and the adoption of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety are likely sources of increasing uncertainty in technology and food import policies of many African countries. Confronted with a strong international lobby against genetically modified (GM) foods and with scanty scientific knowledge and information on these foods, these countries are unsure about investing in modern biotechnology, importing grain or accepting relief food from countries such as Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Australia and the US.
In Kenya, for example, there is a growing debate on whether the government should be receiving genetically modified corn from the USA and Canada to feed the more than 5 million people who are already starving as a result of severe drought and growing food insecurity. While some environmentalists oppose food relief from the USA and Canada, they have not offered alternative sources of food for the hungry.
In the meantime, many African countries are also faced with new policy challenges arising from the pressure to apply the precautionary principle in decision-making. Many of these countries have formulated and adopted biosafety regulations that they are seeking to implement. The regulations--as in the case of Cameroon, Egypt, Uganda and Zambia--contain explicit reference to the precautionary principle. However, the extent to which the principle is translated in specific policies needs to be carefully assessed. What is even more urgent is to determine how the precautionary principle can be applied in situations of famine and food insecurity.
The decision by Kenya to accept GM corn from the USA and Canada was not based on any risk assessment exercise. As one senior government official remarked, "the government and Kenyans did not have time and the necessary scientific capacity to undertake risk assessment. Our confidence was established in the fact that if Americans are eating it, it should be safe our starving people." Faced with food crises and absence of verifiable information on harm from the consumption of GM foods, few African countries will reject GM foods. Effective application of the precautionary principle in decision-making is likely to be realized as the countries' range of technological options widens and their level of economic and food security grows.
In Kenya and Zimbabwe GM crops are still in experimental field trial while in South Africa they are ready for commercialization. In granting permits to release GMOs regulators in the countries have relied on results of scientific risks assessments conducted by applicants--institutions seeking to release and/or test GMOs. For example, the South African Committee for Genetic Experimentation relied largely on the South African Sugar Association Experimentation Station (SASEX) to provide scientific information on risks associated with the development and release of pest-resistant (Bt.) sugarcane. In the absence of such information it is difficult to apply the precautionary principle. However, decision-makers or regulators should have the ability to verify the scientific information given to them by applicants.
The problem of how to regulate the development, importation, and release of GMOs in the face of scientific uncertainty cannot be effectively addressed by the mere integration of the precautionary principle in national biosafety measures. Countries can only effectively apply or invoke the precautionary principle as their scientific knowledge and information on GMOs grows. In other words, as their knowledge and information grow they are also able to determine the nature and level of scientific uncertainty. Those that do not invest in scientific inquiry are likely to misuse the precautionary principle to unduly control or restrain technological change. Implementation of precautionary policies should therefore focus on promoting scientific research and technological learning.
Effective and equitable biotechnology risk assessment should also be guided by a clear view of short-term benefits that Africa is likely to derive from the technology. The continent is confronted with problems that cannot wait for future technological solutions. In this regard, the application of the precautionary principle should take into account technological opportunities to address immediate and serious malnutrition and human health problems. This is not to suggest that Africa should sacrifice its long-term sustainable development aspirations on the altar of quick technological fixes. To the contrary, precaution should be integrated into scientific experimentation and technological learning. Policy-makers that are guided by mere appeals to scientific uncertainty will become unwitting advocates of environmental authoritarianism.
For more details, please see Mugabe, J. et. al. 2000. Global Biotechnology Risk Management: A Profile of Policies, Practices and Institutions. UNEP and ACTS. (Forthcoming).John Mugabe, Ph.D., Executive Director, African Centre for Technology Studies, Nairobi, Kenya:
