Top Ten Facts on Biotechnology and Biosafety in South Africa by th Anniversary of Global Commercialization of Biotech Crops ( )

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1 Top Ten Facts on Biotechnology and Biosafety in South Africa by th Anniversary of Global Commercialization of Biotech Crops ( )

2 Fact , marked 18 years of successful biotech crop cultivation in South Africa. 1. In 2015, biotech maize, soybean and cotton were planted on 2.3 million hectares. 2. A devastating drought in the region led to a 25% decrease in the area planted equivalent to 700,000 hectares. 3. South Africa remains the leading producer of GM crops in Africa and is ranked 9th as a mega-biotech country globally. Planted Area in Hectares ( 000 ) A graph showing the adoption trend of biotech crops in SA Maize Cotton 1000 Soybean Year Planted area in hectares of biotech crops in SA over the years 1

3 Fact 2 South Africa became the first country in Africa to commercialize a GM crop in Insect resistant (Bt) cotton was the first biotech crop planted in Stacked trait cotton with insect resistance and herbicide tolerance (Bt/ HT) was released in South Africa was amongst the 15 countries that grew biotech cotton in 2015 by growing a total of 12,000 hectares of the stacked Bt/ HT cotton. This brought the adoption rate of biotech cotton in the country to 100%. 3. Cotton produced in South Africa is less than the country s demand, but it is of high quality, 70-80% of which is exported. 2

4 Fact 3 South Africa was the first country to grow a GM subsistence crop (maize) in the world. 1. Bt white maize was commercialized in 2001 making the country the first GM subsistence crop producer globally since white maize is the staple diet for about 200 million people in South Africa. HT maize followed in 2003 and Bt/HT maize was released for planting in Bt yellow maize was first released in 1998 for commercialization. 2. In 2015, 1.8 million hectares of biotech maize was planted a at an adoption rate of 90%. White maize accounted for 1.03 million hectares, 86% of the total white maize grown while yellow maize at 0.96 million hectares was 92% GM. 3. South Africa was among the five countries that grew more than 1 million hectares of biotech maize in These were, in decreasing order: USA (33.1 million hectares), Brazil (13.1 million hecates), Argentina (2.9 million hectares), South Africa (1.8 million hectares) and Canada (1.4 million hectares) Planted Area in Hectares ( 000 ) A graph showing the adoption trend of biotech maize in SA Year Maize 3

5 Fact 4 South Africa became the first country to approve the drought tolerance trait in maize under the Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) project. 1. In 2015, a drought tolerant maize trait was approved for conditional general release in South Africa. The trait will be sold under the brand name, DroughtGard. The DroughtGard trait is designed to help the maize plant use less water when drought stress occurs, creating the opportunity to conserve soil moisture and help minimize yield loss under drought conditions. 2. South Africa is likely to spend between R13 billion and R14 billion between May 2016 and April 2017 to import 3.8 million tons of maize due to the drought. The approval will thus go a long way in mitigating the drought impacts and could contribute to increased production of maize thus reducing the import burden. 3. The WEMA project is a humanitarian project led by the African Agricultural Technology Foundation that aims to develop and deploy improved maize hybrids to benefit smallholder farmers in five African countries Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda. 4

6 Fact 5 Biotech soybeans has been planted in South Africa since South Africa was ranked 8th globally among the 11 countries that planted a total of 92.1 million hectares of biotech soybean in Herbicide tolerant soybeans were planted in 508,000 hectares which is 95% of the total 535,000 hectares of soybean grown. The hectarage was down by 8% from 552,000 hectares in 2014, and down by ~160,000 hectares (24% decrease) from the projected 670,000 hectares in The decline is attributed to the prevailing devastating drought in the country. 3. The country intends to reduce soybean meal imports and has increased the oilseed processing capacity from 1 million tons to an estimated 2.2 million tons per annum production in anticipation of expanded production. 5

7 Fact 6 Both small and large scale farmers have continued to gain socioeconomic benefits by growing biotech crops over the last 18 years. 1. It is estimated that the accumulated economic gains from biotech crops for South Africa for the period 1998 to 2014 was US$1.8 billion. (Brookes and Barfoot, 2016). 2. In 2014 alone farmers gained economic benefits equivalent to and US$245 million. 3. The benefits are attributed to increased yield, insecticide savings and reduced labour costs. Before the advent of GM yields of maize averaged 1.5t/ha. Today average yields are 5t/ha for GM maize, an increase of 70%. 6

8 Fact 7 South Africa was the first African country to establish a biosafety law, the GMO Act in It signed the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety on 14 August 2003 and ratified it on 12 November The Act was amended to GMO Amendment Act, 2006 to align it to the Cartagena protocol and revise certain provisions. It is administered by the Directorate of Genetic Resources within the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. It makes provision for the appointment of a Registrar, the Advisory Committee and Executive Council and Inspectors. 2. All GMO applications are submitted to the Registrar and those that are compliant to the provisions of the GMO Act are further submitted to the Advisory Committee (AC). The Advisory Committee (AC), evaluates risk assessment data in relation to food, feed and environmental impact and submits a recommendation to the Executive Council (EC). 3. Before taking a decision to permit an activity or not, the EC considers the recommendations of the AC, compliance with various policies and comments from members of the public or interested parties. All applications for field trials, commodity clearance (i.e. food/feed/processing) and general release are published for the information and inputs of the general public. 7

9 Fact 8 South Africa enacted a labeling legislation for GM foods on 16th January The labeling legislation requires that a GM food be labeled if it differs significantly in composition, nutritional value, or in mode of storage, preparation or cooking from that of the corresponding existing foodstuff. 2. The regulations also require a GM food to be labeled as such if a plant-derived food contains genetic material derived from a human or an animal, or if animal-derived food contains genetic material derived from a human or from a different taxonomic animal family. 3. The information on the label is not a warning that these foods are unsafe. The label simply gives information on the ingredients of the foodstuff or product as an internationally acceptable standard. The legislation is implemented by the Department of Health. 8

10 Fact 9 The government of South Africa has established a programme on the Public Understanding of Biotechnology (PUB) 1. PUB which was established in 2003 is under the Department of Science & Technology and is implemented by South African Agency for Science & Technology Advancement (SAASTA). 2. The overall aim of the PUB programme is to promote an understanding of the potential of biotechnology and to ensure broad public awareness, dialogue and debate on its current and potential future applications, including genetic modification. 3. The target audience includes all facets of society, but especially consumers, educators and learners. PUB s emphasis is on engaging the public in debate rather than prescribing specific views and focuses on new, innovative approaches to reach and involve diverse audiences. 9

11 Fact 10 South Africa has a diverse environment of supportive systems for adoption of biotech crops. 1. A functional biosafety regulatory framework, strong science foundation and government support for biotech research which enables scientists access to international biotech germplasm. 2. Farmers have access to a wide range of genetically improved varieties/hybrids and quality seed from which they can choose based on their needs and capabilities. 3. Government in collaboration with commercial farmers, producer associations, and seed companies is working to get previously disadvantaged smallholder farmers into main stream agricultural production through mentorship, capacity building and support to uplift and assist new emerging farmers into food production. 10

12 ISAAA AfriCenter ILRI Campus, Old Naivasha Road, P. O. Box , Uthiru, Nairobi, Kenya. Tel: , Website: Facebook: Isaaa AfriCenter AATF ILRI Campus, Old Naivasha Road, P.O.Box , Nairobi, Kenya. Tel: , Website: Citation: Karembu, M. and Nguthi, F South Africa Top Ten Facts about Agri-Biotech & Biosafety by Nairobi, Kenya: ISAAA AfriCenter