A new report released by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) says that Africa needs
to embrace agricultural innovations to be able to compete globally. The
report, GM agricultural technologies for Africa: A state of affairs collects
current information on the status of biotechnology in Africa with an
emphasis on GM crops, and assesses the opportunities offered by and
constraints on adoption.

The report also discusses the need to transform African agriculture from low
productivity to one that is a high-potential driver of economic development.
The authors identified several initiatives that could help overcome
obstacles, such as increasing public investments in agricultural
biotechnology research and development; improving regulatory frameworks and
regulatory capacity; and developing an effective and broad-based
communications strategy.

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