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The State of Applications and Impacts of Biotechnology in the Crop Sector

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Agricultural Biotechnology in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Application of biotechnology in the crop sector in sub-Saharan African countries was considered based on both the extent (e.g. limited use in laboratories versus widespread field use) and context (e.g. cloning individual genes versus cloning a whole organism) of use. Biotechnology types were allocated to three groups—low-, medium- and high-tech—depending on their relative complexity. High-tech applications were only encountered in a few countries. Consequently, low- and medium-tech applications were more important for categorizing most countries. Only one country, South Africa, was categorized as having ‘very high’ use of biotechnology in the crop sector. Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe were categorized as ‘high’ use, and Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Eswatini, Ghana, Lesotho, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Zambia as ‘medium’. All other countries for which information was available were categorized as ‘low’ or ‘very low’ users of biotechnology in the crop sector. The crop sector has been the main beneficiary of initiatives to catalyse biotechnology research and application, with the CGIAR’s programmes being prominent in influencing applications.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Emerge Centre for Innovations-Africa, Nairobi, Kenya

    J. E. O. Rege

  2. African Biodiversity Conservation and Innovations Centre, Nairobi, Kenya

    Dionysious Kiambi

  3. Agricultural Biotechnology Programme, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya

    Joel W. Ochieng

  4. Poverty and Health Integrated Solutions (PHIS), Kisumu, Kenya

    Charles Midega

  5. Keith Sones Associates, Banbury, UK

    Keith Sones

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  1. J. E. O. Rege
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  2. Dionysious Kiambi
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  3. Joel W. Ochieng
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  4. Charles Midega
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  5. Keith Sones
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Correspondence to J. E. O. Rege .

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  1. Emerge Centre for Innovations – Africa, Nairobi, Kenya

    John Edward Otieno Rege

  2. Keith Sones Associates, Banbury, UK

    Keith Sones

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Rege, J.E.O., Kiambi, D., Ochieng, J.W., Midega, C., Sones, K. (2022). The State of Applications and Impacts of Biotechnology in the Crop Sector. In: Rege, J.E.O., Sones, K. (eds) Agricultural Biotechnology in Sub-Saharan Africa. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-04349-9_4

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