Participants of the genome editing communication strategy development and policy dialogue meeting held in Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria (Photo: @BiosafetyNig)
By Mekonnen Teshome
Lagos, Nigeria (December 17, 2022)- Biotechnology and communication experts from five project piloting AU member states affirmed that most African nations have shown readiness for the adoption of Genome Editing (GEd) Technology.
The experts made their statement in their communiqué released following their three-day genome editing communication strategy development and policy dialogue meeting held in Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria.
Participants of the policy dialogues who came together in Lagos as part of the continental meeting organized by the Centre of Excellence in Science, Technology, and Innovation of the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD) in collaboration with the Nigerian National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) are also optimistic that some projects in the pipeline in the countries may be ready for commercialization within the next three to five years.
According to the resolution, there are growing GEd capabilities in Africa as identified at the forum and most countries involved in the pilot phase as well as other African countries have some level of enabling environment to adopt GEd technology.
Moreover, the experts agreed that there is a need for accelerated development of experts on GEd and mainstreaming in the curriculum of various universities in Africa, there is a need for synergy and collaboration among African countries and the continent will foster the desired benefits from the GEd that will be translated to industrial development and improved livelihoods in Africa.
They also underscored that there is a need for Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) and improved funding made available by the private sector and adding that AU member countries need to proactively develop Ged guidelines to facilitate the adoption of the technology and to develop communication strategy for awareness creation and public education.
Nigeria hosted five African Union (AU) member states that came together to strategise on the use and adoption of genome editing technology in boosting agricultural productivity.
In connection with the continental meeting, Press Secretary to the Director-General of Nigerian National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) Mrs Toyin Omozuma, indicated the AUDA-NEPAD project has been initiated and driven by member states of Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Ethiopia, Eswantini and Zambia.
She said: “The goal of the Genome Editing (GEd) project is to foster a broader understanding of GEd among different stakeholder groups through communication and advocacy for enhanced uptake of the tool to optimise agriculture in Africa.”
Knowledge Management and Programme Evaluation Directorate supervisor of the Centre of Excellence in Science, Technology, and Innovation, AUDA-NEPAD, Dr. Olalekan Akinbo at the occasion told reporters that the key objectives of the meeting was to include the creation of a platform for engagement with senior government officials for strengthening institutional linkages in GE (national system) to optimise agriculture, as well as the development of baseline to enhance research and development, as well as commercialisation capability.
He added that the effort is part of the translation of Agenda 2063. “ The Africa we want is the self-sustaining, self-sufficient and food-secured one and connecting science in innovation to policies, then to improving livelihood,” he added.
Nigerian National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC) Director-General Dr. Philip Ojo, also indicated that gene editing as a very good tool to used to tackle various challenges of the agricultural sector, adding, that AUDA-NEPAD initiative is instrumental to strengthen the support his agency gives to its sister agency, NABDA, so as to effectively implement innovative technologies to alleviate challenges of African farmers.
Biotechnology scientists say that, today, genome-editing technologies including clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated protein (CRISPR/Cas) have become powerful tools for modifying plant genomes and achieve precise genetic modifications by inducing targeted DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs).