By Nancy Pontius, Special Correspondent

Littleton, Colorado — Biotechnology is a key component of a public-private partnership that could save millions of lives by developing drought-tolerant maize for small-scale farming operations in sub-Saharan Africa.

More than 300 million Africans depend on maize as their main food source. The partnership — known as Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) — was formed because crop yields are reduced greatly by frequent droughts in Africa, leading to hunger and poverty.

“This project, conducted mostly in Africa for Africans, will result in improved maize hybrids, yielding an additional 25 percent more grain under moderate drought conditions, compared to the best African seed currently available,” Vanessa Cook, U.S. agricultural company Monsanto’s WEMA project lead, told America.gov.

“Approximately 0.8 million metric tons of additional grain would be produced if 1 million hectares of maize showed this increase in a moderate drought year,” Cook said. “This would feed an additional 4.8 million people, providing the equivalent of $320 million in food aid and increased income to farmers.”

With the support of Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda, WEMA is led by the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), an African-run charity facilitating public-private partnerships in appropriate proprietary technologies to increase productivity for poor farmers in sub-Saharan Africa.

These are the other WEMA partner members:

• The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, which provides high-yielding maize varieties adapted to African conditions and expertise in conventional breeding and drought-tolerance testing
• The U.S. firm Monsanto, which contributes proprietary corn lines, testing of genetically modified maize and the substantial expertise and capabilities of its molecular breeding research laboratories and data analysis
• National agricultural research systems, farmer groups and seed companies in Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda, which contribute expertise in field testing and knowledge of local conditions and product requirements
• The Howard Buffett Foundation, which has pledged $5 million for this project
• The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has committed funding of $42 million

The Gates Foundation director of agricultural development, Rajiv Shah, told America.gov, “Our long-term goal with this project is to give farmers access to crops that can protect them from frequent drought, so [farmers] can feed their families, increase their incomes and build better, healthier lives.”

By 2018 or earlier, the enhanced seeds are expected to be available without royalty charges to small-scale African farms.

BIOTECHNOLOGY AND GENETIC MODIFICATION

The new maize varieties will be developed using a combination of conventional plant breeding and biotechnology (also called genetic modification or genetic engineering).

Conventional breeding involves repeatedly crossing and pollinating plants, then selecting the best varieties. This method takes eight years to 10 years or longer. For WEMA, Monsanto will accelerate the selection process with marker-assisted breeding, which allows researchers to find and track genetic material associated with drought tolerance and focus on developing those lines.

Genetically modified crops are produced by introducing a new piece of DNA from another plant or bacterium to strengthen the desired characteristic, Cook said. For this process, a “gene gun” powered by air pressure is used to shoot DNA pieces coated onto microscopic gold particles into plant cells, with the goal of inserting a new, desirable genetic trait. Plants then are grown to see if the desired change occurs.

“Ten million farmers have been using [genetically modified] crops in 23 countries in the last 12 years,” Bruce Chassy, professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, told America.gov, “and they have seen higher yields and healthier soil, in addition to reduced pesticide use, energy use and emissions of greenhouse gases.”

“And, of particular benefit to developing countries, [genetically modified] crops also can be nutritionally enhanced and made more resistant to fungal infections that produce toxins dangerous to humans,” Peggy Lemaux, University of California, Berkeley, faculty member, told America.gov.

“Genetic engineering is a powerful tool to improve crop yield in sub-Saharan Africa, in addition to conventional plant breeding, soil conservation, increasing soil nutrients and increasing access to fertilizer and quality seeds,” Cook said.

CONTROVERSY OVER GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROPS

“Concerns have been raised about [genetically modified] crops regarding the possibility of introducing harmful and irreversible changes to the gene pool, human health problems and unknown future safety risks, which may be inadequately regulated,” Chassy said, “but genetic engineering has been practiced for 45 years with no known adverse affects, and instead the improved crops have generally been very productive and beneficial.”

To preserve existing genetic diversity, Lemaux said, gene banks worldwide have collected and stored samples of most crop and plant seeds. In terms of human health, “commercial genetically engineered crops and products available today are at least as safe in terms of food safety as those produced by conventional methods,” she added.

“In the United States, 10 to15 years of research and safety testing of [genetically modified] products make them the best understood and most researched foods on the market,” Chassy said.

“In Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda, there are national teams to ensure that the regulatory frameworks are in place for testing [genetically modified] crops and that the WEMA project follows the necessary procedures,” Monsanto’s Cook said.

“Leading scientists around the world have attested to the health and environmental safety of agricultural biotechnology,” C.S. Prakash, a Tuskegee University professor, told America.gov, “and they have called for bioengineered crops to be extended to those who need them most — hungry people in the developing world.”

More information on WEMA is available on the AATF Web site. More information on agricultural biotechnology is available on a University of California Web site.