Abstract
The development of a bio-economy in Africa will require enhanced bio-innovation for sustainable development. It will also require structural and policy changes to ensure that the systems are in place to support the bio-economy. Already, many developed and developing countries are placing emphasis on the development of a bio-economy, and African countries must not be left behind.
There are many bio-innovation success stories in Africa, some of which are highlighted in this paper, such as the development of cereals resistant to parasitic infection, banana tissue culture, veterinary vaccines and diagnostics, microbial fermentation products, and value addition to primary agricultural products through agro-processing.
There are also challenges to overcome, including access to finance and business skills, legislative and intellectual property hurdles, and the need for enhanced technical capacity. Some of these challenges are being overcome in novel ways, such as through regional collaborations and public–private partnerships, but strong leadership by Africa’s politicians and a change of mindset regarding the importance of science, technology and innovation are needed if the opportunities presented by the bio-economy are to be fully realized.
The African Centre for Gene Technologies is a collaborative initiative of the Universities of Pretoria, Witwatersrand, and Johannesburg, with the Agricultural Research Council and the CSIR.
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Abbreviations
- AATF:
-
African Agricultural Technology Foundation
- ABSP:
-
Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project
- ABSPII:
-
Second phase of ABSP
- AHBFI:
-
Africa Harvest Biotech Foundation International
- ARC:
-
Agricultural Research Corporation (Sudan)
- ASARECA:
-
Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in East and Central Africa
- AU/PANVAC:
-
Pan-African Veterinary Vaccine Centre of the African Union
- BecA:
-
Biosciences East and Central Africa
- BIC:
-
Biotechnology Innovation Centre (South Africa)
- Bio-EARN:
-
Eastern Africa Regional Program and Research Network for Biotechnology, Biosafety and Biotechnology Policy Development
- Bio-Innovate:
-
Bio-resources Innovations Network for Eastern Africa Development
- CGIAR:
-
Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research
- CIMMYT:
-
CGIAR International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center
- CORAF/WECARD:
-
West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development
- CSIR:
-
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (South Africa)
- EPHTFCP:
-
Eastern Province Horticultural Traditional Food Crop Project (Kenya)
- FAO/UNIDO:
-
Food and Agriculture Organization/United Nations Industrial Development Organization
- FARA:
-
Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa
- FTO:
-
Freedom-to-operate
- GM:
-
Genetically modified
- HCDA:
-
Horticultural Crop Development Authority (Kenya)
- ICRISAT:
-
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics
- IFAD:
-
International Fund for Agricultural Development
- IITA:
-
International Institute for Tropical Agriculture
- IP:
-
Intellectual property
- IPRs:
-
Intellectual property rights
- KARI:
-
Kenya Agricultural Research Institute
- KHCP:
-
Kenya Horticultural Competitiveness Project
- KIRDI:
-
Kenya Industrial Research Development Institute
- MDG:
-
Millennium Development Goal
- NEPAD:
-
New Partnership for Africa’s Development
- OECD:
-
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
- PIPRA:
-
Public Intellectual Property Resource for Agriculture
- PPP:
-
Public–Private Partnership
- R&D:
-
Research and development
- SACIDS:
-
Southern African Centre for Infectious Diseases and Surveillance
- SANBio:
-
Southern African Biosciences Network
- SEDA:
-
Small Enterprise Development Agency (South Africa)
- SEOBI:
-
SEDA essential oils business incubator
- Sida:
-
Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency
- SMEs:
-
Small and medium enterprises
- SSA:
-
Sub-Saharan Africa
- TIA:
-
Technology Innovation Agency (South Africa)
- TRIPS:
-
Trade Related Agreement on Intellectual Property Rights
- UNEP:
-
United Nations Environment Program
- USAID:
-
U.S. Agency for International Development
- WCED:
-
World Commission on Environment and Development
- WEMA:
-
Water-efficient maize for Africa
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Morris, E.J. (2014). Moving Africa Towards a Knowledge-Based Bio-economy. In: Wambugu, F., Kamanga, D. (eds) Biotechnology in Africa. Science Policy Reports, vol 7. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04001-1_5
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