By Sifelani Tsiko
Zimbabwean scientists believe biotechnology has the potential to
transform the country's economy into a hub of innovative ideas and
development if more resources are set aside for the emerging scientific
discipline.
Scientists who attended the just-ended blue ribbon National
Biotechnology Authority workshop to celebrate the country's achievements,
capabilities and talents in the field of biotechnology say Zimbabwe must
fully embrace biotechnology to find solutions to some of the country's
problems.

Modern biotechnology, they say, when integrated with new technologies
such as ICT can help to improve the country's health delivery system,
agricultural production, enhance environmental conditions and expand new
industries in the biotechnology sector.

"GM crops now constitute a sizeable percentage of global agriculture.
The technology is flourishing," said Prof Christopher Chetsanga, president
of the Zimbabwe Academy of Sciences.

"Biotechnology is creating for us, GM crops that contain human
vaccines in their leaves, seeds and roots and even in the fruits of some
plants. I want Zimbabwean scientists to embrace biotechnology. They must go
to bed with biotechnology, sleep with this wife called biotechnology.

"We have the brains, we have the genetic resources and institutions
for research. I want to know what are we waiting for? "I want to see
Zimbabwe truly embrace biotechnology so that we sleep in the same bed with
it. At the moment we are watching its attractiveness from the sidelines,"
said Prof Chetsanga. He said developing countries such as Cuba, Brazil,
Argentina, India, South Africa among others have seen the advantages of
using modern biotechnology to solve problems in the agricultural, medical,
environmental and energy sectors.

These countries, he said, showed that biotechnology can offer Zimbabwe
an opportunity to address food security problems through the development of
drought-tolerant, pest-resistant and flood-tolerant animal and crop
varieties.

In Africa, only Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and
Zimbabwe have granted approval for field trials. AfricaBio, a biotechnology
stakeholders association, estimates that the global area of approved biotech
crops in 2005 was 90 million hectares, equivalent to an annual growth rate
11 percent in 2005.

Countries growing biotech crops are increasing every year. In 2005, 21
countries grew biotech crops, up from 17 in 2004.

At the workshop, Zimbabwean scientists strongly backed biotechnology
despite the growing antiGMO movement that is against the wider application
genetic engineering in food production, research and commerce.

"I think people must realise the benefits of this biotechnology," said
Dr Dahlia Garwe, a researcher at the Tobacco Research Board, "Biotechnology
is quite promising and offering scope for tackling some of the greatest
challenges of the 21st century.

"Of course, there are some known and some unknown risks, but lets use
science and not emotion to promote biotechnology," she said in a broadside
on antiGMO activists.

Scientific voices at the workshop, which also sought to draw a road
map for the development of a vibrant biotechnology sector in Zimbabwe, were
unanimous that Zimbabwe should fully embrace biotechnology and tread the
path that India, China, Cuba, Brazil and South Africa have taken.

"The fastest moving nation in this regard (modern biotechnology) is
China, our 'Look East' policy partner," said Prof Chetsanga, "I keep hoping
that Zimbabwe will form a smart partnership with China (in biotechnology)."

China, he said, has developed 141 types of GM crops and out of these,
approximately 65 GM crops are undergoing field trials.

"My smart partnership challenge to this audience today is that our
trading partners are using modern biotechnology to both feed themselves and
enrich themselves," said Prof Chetsanga.

"These friends are South Africa from whom we import GM maize to meet
our food import requirements and China from where we have ordered 4 000
tonnes of GM soya beans for our cooking oil. Why can't we form smart
partnerships with our friends so as to strengthen our balance of trade?"What
prevents us from going into biotechnology at full throttle? We have all the
enabling legislative provisions to guide. We have the National Biotechnology
Authority to supervise the field trials. What are we waiting for? he asked.

Dr Garwe said it was important to allay fears over biotechnology by
providing accurate and relevant facts about the GM crops and consumers'
concern of biosafety and food safety.

Genetic modification provides a method of identifying and transferring
particular characteristics to living organisms making it possible to use
genes from widely different organisms such as bacteria and plants to improve
crops.The term 'genetically modified organisms' (GMO) often refers to the
products of this new technology. The process does not occur through mating
or natural recombination but through the insertion of genes responsible for
a particular trait into a plant or micro-organism.

An example of a GMO is Bt maize. This is a type of maize crop that has
been altered to contain a gene from a bacterium that gives it builtin
resistance to the maize stalk borer.

Scientists who strongly advocate biotechnology say this new process
provides tools for the development of agriculture, food processing, medical
and environmental sectors.

They argue that when appropriately integrated with other technologies
for the production of food, agricultural products and services,
biotechnology can be of significant assistance in meeting the needs of an
expanding and increasingly urbanised population in Africa.

"We have the capability, we have the motivation and brains to develop
the biotechnology industry in Zimbabwe," said Mr Abisai Mafa, acting chief
executive officer of the NBA.

"We are just missing the link between raw materials and the
intellectual capacity to develop biotechnology."

His organisation, he said, wants the biotechnology sector to
contribute 20 percent of GDP by 2020.

"The future is green. The future is biotechnology and together we can
make biotechnology a household name."

The Minister of Science and Technology Development, Dr Olivia Muchena
said there was need for scientists to strategise and find novel ways of
mobilising resources for research and development.

"We are a country rich in natural resources. Equally true is the fact
that we do have some of the best brains. To make money out of our resources
and talents, we need to deliberate, targeted and visionary investment in
science, technology and innovation," she said.

"We have the creative gene, all we need to do is to look at the Great
Zimbabwe Monument. The creativity of our ancestors is a source of
inspiration for us.

"We want to inspire the young generation, to create in them a science
culture rooted on science soil," Dr Muchena said.

The Government contributes about 0,5 percent of GDP annually to
biotechnology research, development and application.

Dr Muchena urged industrialists to provide the other 0,5 percent to
increase funding for scientific activities to one percent.

During a question and answer session, veteran plant breeder Dr Joseph
Mushonga asked what strategies had been put in place to protect consumers
from terminator technologies.

University of Zimbabwe biochemist Prof Idah Sithole-Niang allayed
fears over terminator technologies."The technology is not in commercialised
products, so there is no technology that is coming into the country," she
said.

Frederick Mandizvidza, chief executive officer of the African
Institute of Biomedical Research and Training (AiBST) said he strongly
believed that Africa's tragic underdevelopment can be rectified through
rapid investment in biotechnology research and development.

He said Africans should be geared to manufacture their own drugs, and
it was worrying that the continent was the dump

[allafrica.com]