Biotechnology in Africa: Emergence, Initiatives and Future

Introduction: The Importance of Political Will in furthering Agricultural Biotechnology for Economic Growth, Food and Nutritional Security in Africa.- Commercialized Genetically Modified Crops: Biotech (Bt) Cotton in Burkina Faso Demonstrates that Political Will is Key for Biotechnology to Benefit Commercial Agriculture in Africa.- Opportunities and Challenges of Commercializing Biotech Products in Egypt: Biotech (Bt) Maize: A Case Study.- Genetically Modified Crops Commercialized in South Africa.- Building the Bio-economy and Commercialization Challenges: Moving Africa Towards a Knowledge-Based Bio-Economy.- Biotechnology Success Stories by the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research (CGIAR) System.- Towards Optimizing the Impact of Tissue Culture Banana in Kenya.- Technologies in Development: The Use of African Indigenous Genes in the Development of Transgenic Maize Tolerant to Drought and Resistant to Maize Streak Virus.-Biotechnology of Nutritionally Enhanced Food Crops Targeting Malnutrition in Rural Agricultural Populations: The Case Study of Africa Biofortified Sorghum.-Capacity Development: The Role of African Universities on Training and Mentorship of Biotechnology Scientists to Embark on Future Challenges in Africa.- Elements of an Enabling Biosafety and Regulatory Environment.- Harmonization of regional bio safety and regulatory services to remove future trade barriers in the (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) COMESA region.- Communication and Community Engagement: Social Audits and their role in stakeholder-oriented innovation and fostering accountability and trust in agricultural biotechnology development programs.- Why communication and issues management must occupy a central role in GM projects: Case study of the Africa Biofortified Sorghum (ABS) Project.- Political Challenges: Does Africa need Political will to overcome impediments to GM crop biotechnology applications for agricultural economic growth and development as in the case of Brazil, Argentina and India.- Influencing politicians and policy makers to pave the way for a viable biotechnology sector: A case study of the Nigerian Biosafety Bill drafting, passage, experiences and lessons learnt at the Parliament.- The Way Forward.