KENYA GETS NATIONAL BIOTECHNOLOGY POLICY
The government of Kenya has adopted a comprehensive national policy to guide the research, development and trade in biotechnology products, the National Biotechnology Development Policy 2006, which comes into effect immediately. According to Kenyan laws, a Policy, unlike a Bill, does not have to go through parliamentary debate. The policy has been the result of several years of debate involving all major biotechnology stakeholders and relevant government departments.

Noah Wekesa, Kenyan Minister for Science and Technology, said the policy is one of the measures the government is putting in place to chart its vision on biotechnology development and application in the country. This policy will provide those developing and applying the technology a clear framework in which to operate in order to address fears on their safety, saidWekesa. She added that the government is determined to explore the use of biotechnology for the benefit of Kenyans, and to ensure that the country becomes a key participant in the international biotechnology enterprise within a decade.

The approval and adoption of the policy now clears the way for fast-tracking the enactment of biosafety and biotechnology laws to enable the country to be compliant with international instruments governing trade in biotechnology products.

CHICKPEA GENE MAKES TOBACCO STRESS TOLERANT

The APETALA2/ethylene-responsive factor (ERF) family of proteins regulates various processes of development and metabolism in plants. Proteins of this family also allow plants to react to various hormones, which, in turn, are produced in response to environmental cues, such as temperature and salinity stresses. This may imply that APETALA2 genes can help plants cope with stress. Rakesh K. Shukla and colleagues of the National Center for Plant Genome Research, India found out that “Expression of CAP2, an APETALA2-Family Transcription Factor from Chickpea, Enhances Growth and Tolerance to Dehydration and Salt Stress in Transgenic Tobacco.”

In an article published in a recent issue of Plant Physiology, the researchers characterized, CAP2, a gene from chickpea, which was found to encode a novel AP2-family protein. They analyzed the activity of the gene, characterized the protein; and then expressed the gene in tobacco.

Through their work, researchers found that:
1) the CAP2 protein bound specifically to a dehydration-responsive element in a gel-shift assay, which shows that it was directly involved in plant stress response;
2) levels of CAP2 mRNA increase by dehydration and by treatment with sodium chloride, abscisic acid, and auxin, but not by treatment with low temperature, salicylic acid, and jasmonic acid;
3) When expressed tobacco, transgenic plants had larger leaves and more lateral roots; and
4) CAP2 transgenic tobacco shows greater tolerance to dehydration and salt stress than wild-type plants. Taken together, the results show that CAP2 can control both plant growth and development, and allow plants to respond to dehydration and salt stress.

BIOTECH CROP PLANTINGS INCREASE IN SOUTH AFRICA

Genetically modified (GM) crops are now widely planted in South Africa with biotech cotton accounting for approximately 92 percent of total production. Of the total soybean acreage in the country, 59 percent was GM, while biotech corn accounted for 29 percent. GM corn plantings increased from 16.6 percent in 2005 to 29.4 percent in 2006. White corn varieties, a staple food for majority of South Africans, saw an increase from 8.6 percent to 28.8 percent. These are highlights of a report on biotechnology in South Africa released by the US Department of Agricultures Foreign Agricultural Service.

The 22-page report examines the use, development, and regulation of agricultural biotechnology in the country. South Africa can play a vital role as other countries in Africa develop biotechnology policies because it has the most resources, such as scientific expertise and financial support, as well as a progressive regulatory system. Without the South African Governments leadership role in this region, the progress in agricultural biotechnology, or for that matter any technology, can be stifled by anti-technology groups, the report noted.

Although no new commercial crop is expected soon, South African scientists are

doing research on new varieties of GM corn, melon, millet, lupins, soybeans, strawberries, sugar cane, cotton, apples, tomatoes, sorghum, wheat, potatoes and grapes.

See the full report at http://www.fas.usda.gov/gainfiles/200608/146208636.pdf

A GOOD HARVEST NOT END TO CYCLE OF MALNUTRITION

Despite predictions of generally improved harvests in the Sahel region this year, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) warned that localized crop failures persist that contribute directly to malnutrition. The Sahel is a semi-arid belt that comprises parts of Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad and Niger in West Africa.

Malnutrition does not simply disappear with the arrival of the new harvest and return the next lean season. WFP and our partners are fighting a battle that cannot be won over a few weeks or months, said Jean-Jacques Graisse, WFP senior deputy executive director.

According to a report by the aid agency Oxfam, while spending on food and humanitarian aid has increased, aid for agricultural production within sub-Saharan Africa dropped by 43 percent between 1990-92 and 2000-02. Oxfam has criticized the international communitys approach to hunger, saying that poverty, not hunger, is the main cause of food emergencies, and that food aid should not be viewed as the inevitable default response to food insecurity.

With reports from: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=55892&SelectRegion=West_Africa
& SelectCountry=WEST_AFRICA

BT CORN – A SOLUTION TO MYCOTOXIN CONTAMINATION

Mycotoxin contamination is a serious concern in maize production, as two of the most important mycotoxins, fumonisins and aflatoxins, are associated with various diseases in humans and animals. In addition, high levels of mycotoxins result in lower market gains due to livestock losses and higher corn rejection for food and feeds, resulting in huge annual losses to the sector worldwide.

Damage inflicted to crops by insect pests increases susceptibility to infection by fungal pathogens because wounds encourage colonization by fungal spores. Bt maize is modified with a gene toxic to common lepidopteran pests. Does the increased protection against insect pests also reduce the incidence of mycotoxins in the biotech crop? Felicia Wu, of the University of Pittsburgh, USA, compares mycotoxins levels in Bt and conventional maize in an article published in the latest issue of Information Systems for Biotechnology News Report, and reports the presence of significantly lower levels of mycotoxin concentrations in biotech maize.

The economic benefits of mycotoxin reduction would likely be more prominent in developed countries such as the United States, argues Wu, whereas in areas such as Latin America, northern China, and sub-Saharan Africa, where corn is a staple food, the health impacts would far outweigh the market gains.
The complete article “Mycotoxin Reduction in Bt Corn: Potential Economic, Health, and Regulatory Impacts” can be read at http://www.isb.vt.edu/news/2006/sep06.pdf

United Nations Food Summit Discusses Genetically Modified Crops
The Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology, October 03, 2006

Against the backdrop of possible famine in southern Africa and debate over genetically modified foods, delegates at the U.N. World Food Summit called for governments to make good on pledges to end world hunger.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan opened the summit by urging greater access for the world's farmers to land, credit, markets and technology - including technology to help them grow more resistant crops.

"There is no shortage of food on the planet," Annan told delegates at the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. "But while some countries produce more than they need to feed their people, others do not, and many of these cannot afford to import enough to make up the gap." The summit is expected to conclude Thursday with a declaration recommitting governments to promises to cut hunger they made in 1996 at the first food summit.

During that meeting, delegates pledged to reduce the number of hungry people in the world from 800 million to 400 million by 2015. Today, the number of people without enough to eat, however, remains at 800 million, according to AP.

"So there is no point in making further promises today," Annan said. "This summit must give renewed hope to those 800 million people by agreeing on concrete action."

Pope John Paul II, in a message read to the summit on his behalf, said the reasons that the 1996 goals hadn't been met were due to inertia, selfishness "and to international relations often shaped by pragmaticism devoid of ethical and moral grounds."

Annan cited the growing food crisis in southern Africa as an area for urgent action - an issue that is expected to figure prominently in speeches as well as in side events tackling issues such as the role of women in fighting rural hunger.

An estimated 12.8 million people in six southern African countries are at risk of starvation because of drought, floods, government mismanagement and economic instability.

Other issues are likely to crop up at the summit and on the sidelines as well - among them international trade policies, calls for delegates acknowledge the "right to food" for all, and the use of genetically altered seeds.

The United States has been a major advocate of genetically modified foods, arguing that the creation of drought - and-insect resistant crops ensures greater food security - a goal of the FAO, writes AP.

Opponents say engineered crops pose environmental and health hazards and are designed to benefit the multinational corporations that develop them, not farmers or consumers.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said Sunday such opposition was due to ignorance about the benefits of biotechnology, which she said she would highlight in her speech later Monday.

"We are already seeing new products being developed that could help some of the more food-deficit regions of the world," she said in an interview, citing drought-resistant corn and Vitamin A-enriched rice.

The United States has clashed with other delegations on another major issue on the agenda, that of having the summit agree to a code of conduct recognizing the "right to food" of the world's 6 billion people.

Late Sunday, a watered-down compromise appeared to have been reached on the final wording of the document, in which there would be no explicit recognition of the "right to food," the Italian group Other Agriculture said.

Delegates would instead call for a code of conduct that would "create the conditions necessary" to recognize the right to food, the group said.

The United States opposes the concept because it doesn't address practical ways of ending hunger but rather turns it into a philosophical debate, said Alan Larson, the undersecretary of state for economic affairs at the U.S. State Department and a delegation member.

Non-governmental organizations are also pressing summit delegates to open markets to farmers in the developing world, arguing that subsidized imports from the European Union and United States were putting them out of business.

ADDING VALUE TO CASSAVA

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), many developing countries could strengthen their rural economies by converting more cassava, a relatively cheap raw material, into high-value starches. "Compared to starches derived from most other plants, it has greater clarity and viscosity, and it's very stable in acidic food products. It also has excellent properties for use in non-food products, such as pharmaceuticals and thermobioplastics," said Danilo Mejia, an agricultural engineer with FAO's Agricultural Support Systems Division.

The key to cassava's future in global and domestic starch markets, FAO says, will be improvements in efficiency and quality, and a reduction in production costs. For a model of successful cassava starch industry development, African and Latin American countries should turn to Thailand, the world's top producer. The country now uses about 50 percent of its annual cassava root production to extract some two million tons of starch. Half of it goes to domestic food and non-food industries, while the rest are exported, increasingly in the form of higher-value modified starch for specialized applications. The country is also exploring the use of starch as raw material for production of bioethanol.

For the complete article, the readers can access: http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/AGRICULT/magazine/0610sp1.htm

NEW DESERT LOCUST THREAT IN NORTH, WEST AFRICA

The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) warns of another possible locust invasion of North and West Africa. Adults of the crop-devouring insects were recently detected in northwestern Mauritania, and neighboring countries have already been warned by the FAO Locust Group to increase the level of alert against a potential Desert Locust threat.

In 2004, a Desert Locust upsurge caused heavy damage to agriculture in several parts of West Africa. By summer 2005, the upsurge has ended, thanks to unfavorable weather and control operations. This time, FAO intends to test a new control method which employs a natural fungus, called Metarhizium anisopliae. The fungus infects locust hoppers in such a way that they stop feeding and die in one to three weeks. According to FAO's Assistant Director-General Alexander Mller, the current situation is an opportunity to field test environmentally friendly alternatives to conventional pesticides.

Access the news release at http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000418/index.html and http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=20208&Cr=Africa&Cr1=Locust. For the most up-to-date information about the Desert Locust situation, visit the Locust Watch web site: http://www.fao.org/ag/locusts.

Rice is one of the world’s most important food crops, and is thus the focus of many research projects around the world. However, it is difficult to isolate viable rice protoplasts from leaves or suspension-cultured cells – a main requirement for rapid gene functional analysis and biochemical manipulations, both of which are important tools to understand and improve crops.

In the latest issue of Molecular Plant Pathology, Songbiao Chen and colleagues report that they have developed “A highly efficient transient protoplast system for analyzing defence gene expression and protein–protein interactions in rice.” They describe a significantly improved method to isolate a large number of protoplasts from stem and sheath tissues of both young and mature rice plants, as well as a transient expression assay system using these protoplasts for functional analysis of rice defense genes.
Through their work, scientists were able to establish gene expression analysis protocols for rice defense-related genes, using the green fluorescent protein (GFP) and luciferase as reporter genes. The approach, the researchers write, may be applied to other plants from which sufficient protoplasts cannot be isolated from leaves or suspension-cultured cells.

7-13 January 2007, Accra, Ghana. The 4th International Conference of the African Soil Science Society. The theme of this conference, hosted by the Soil Society of Ghana, in collaboration with numerous partners, including FAO, is "Impacts of climate change, global trade, urbanization and biotechnology on land use in Africa". See http://www.asssonline.org/events.htm or contact soils_intconf@yahoo.co.uk for
more information.

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