By Ann Kingiri and Ann Numi
Published: October 2023
This policy briefing is based on highlights and discussions held during a webinar focusing on‘rethinking biotechnologydeployment pathway: insights for emerging applications like gene drives’. This webinar was held on 15th June 2023 and was convened jointly buy a number of partners, the African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS),Calestous Juma Legacy Foundation (CJLF), Trilateral Research Chair in Transformative Innovation (TRCTI ) and AfricaLics. The keynote speaker was Dr. Ann Kingiri, Director of Research and Innovation at the African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS) who delivered a presentation focusing on the topic under reference. The moderater was Ann Numi, researcher at ACTS and a PhD scholar under the TRCTI, based in University of Johannesburg, South Africa.
Introduction
Biotechnological innovations play a crucial role in African development and their prospects in many areas e.g., health, agriculture, biodiversity, industrial field. Biotechnology is an enabling technology, and hence has potential to offer new perspectives for sustainable development globally as well as within the continent. As an enabling technology, biotechnology can contribute to the three pillars of sustainability, economic, social, as well as environmental in different ways. Biotechnology could play an important role in climate change mitigation (e.g. nutrient efficient plants) and adaptation (e.g. drought tolerant plants), renewable energies, biodegradable products, agro biodiversity conversation, rural development and global food security. Synergies exist between nanotechnologies , biotechnology and information technology (ICT) which provides further multiplying effect on technological revolution, well being, and sustainable development. Biotechnology is one of the technologies poised to contribute to Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) (particularly new emerging applications like gene editing and synthetic biology).
Context for Biotechnology deployment pathway in Africa
Advancing science for sustainable biotechnology innovation is becoming more complex with increasing global dynamics like declining arable land, increasing population of youth, changing climate, economics and diets. The path to deployment of biotechnological innovations has not been very smooth for Africa, it has been quite bumpy, and it is even becoming more complex. Based on what has been happening over more than two decades, applications that were being popularized were focusing much more on agrobiotechnology, although there are many other applications in health and other sectors. This blog is informed by experiences in Agro-biotechnology more generally. Agrobiotechnology had been perceived to be a tool that could revolutionalize Africa with regards to food security, as well as other areas of development, including issues of poverty, reduction, and how it could, help small-scale farmers in increased productivity.
Genome editing – an overview
Gene editing was elevated to the global spotlight when Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work on the gene editing tool CRISPR
Cas 9. CRISPR Cas 9 has been described as offering limitless applications for improving agriculture in Africa, whether through plant breeding or livestock improvement. It is perceived to be a pathway for sub–Saharan African prosperity and more precise strategy for crop improvement than previous techniques used to genetically modified crops. New applications like gene drives and CRISPR could revolutionalize
ecosystem management, which calls for rethinking the sustainable bio-innovation debate from the perspective of governance, regulatory approaches/styles, social licencing/stakeholders engagement , among other factors.
From a policy point of view, gene editing has been identified as a tool that should be harnessed by African states to steer or even to fast-track development. Some groups have been advocating for the application of gene drives in public health, towards the control or elimination of malaria in Africa. The African Union and NEPAD have an integrated vector management program that has considerably enhanced regulatory capacity for genome editing technologies like gene drives.
The gene drive tool can be applied in two ways, in population suppression and population modification. For population modification, it has been used in the eradication of malaria. With regards to population suppression, the tool has been applied in eradication of invasive species like rats, mainly in some islands in North America – Canada and USA.
Opportunities and challenges for Advanced Biotech Applications Deployment
Where is Africa in terms of research needs? Genome editing, just like any other knowledge intensive technology, requires infrastructure development. Specific research needs for Africa includes basic understanding around evolutionary dynamics; issues of applications in relation to which candidates are suitable for gene editing; and which localities among other factors. Further, the questions that will keep coming up relate to how can research be pursued safely and responsibly? Arguably, responsible research is what needs to be advanced, as part of the broader issues like risk assessment, risk management, environmental risks, among others.
Key enablers for harnessing regulated advanced applications like gene editing
- Enabling policy to provide legal basis and support at international, regional and national levels.
- Functional regulatory systems to conduct Risk Assessment as appropriate and Risk Analysis to inform decision.
- Social acceptance at all levels.
- Regional and multilateral cooperation to address transboundary issues, because of the transboundary nature of biotechnologies, as well as issues of risk that spans beyond borders.
Advancements and drawbacks
- Expectations & needs – huge variation across the African continent.
- Regulatory environment – biosafety frameworks, regulations and policies.
- Expertise and experiences – capacity, knowledge and skills
- Risks & concerns
- Ethical concerns/issues
- Politics
Overall and from a governance standpoint, biotechnology is highly regulated, and this is largely linked to the slow deployment pace of the technology. There are multiple conventions and regulatory measures that have been put in place. These include the Convention of Biological Diversity, the Cartagena Protocol, and other regulatory measures at the national level to ensure risk assessment and to enhance deployment of what people perceive to be safe applications.
Proponents versus opponents of the technology
From the actors’ role in the deployment pathways, there have been what we can call the ‘hyped view’ of the application of biotechnologies. This has contributed to actors taking either the proponents’ side or opponents’ side.
Proponents view of the technology
Using the advancement of GM crops for Africa as a reference point, the proponents are those who believe that biotechnology has a potential for Africa’s development and based on their belief system, they argue that the GM technology is unique and can ignite a new revolution in Africa in terms of food security by boosting increased productivity, addressing issues of hunger and other issues like poverty among smallholder farmers and other disadvantaged rural communities. Proponents’ view allows a conversation that asks whether biotech applications have made a significant impact in this regard, in the context of Africa.
Opponents view of the technology
Opponents perceive biotechnology applications as potentially risky particularly with regards to the sustainability challenge that Africa is likely to face in the near future, if the practices and technologies being proposed today fail. They perceive these technologies to be inherently risky and damaging to human health and the environment more generally.
What then can we learn from the past to advance GE applications like gene drives?
Based on practice-oriented innovation and development research that has focused on the continent, spanning across the last 15 to 20 years, a few recommendations are provided.
(1) The biotechnology innovation debate revolves mainly around science rather than context
The focus basically has been on science. This relates to, traits; what the science can do to combat the challenges in the continent like issues of food insecurity; and the narrative around the novelty, the precision of gene drive and cost associated with technology deployment, among other factors. The issues of context are much more important for the continent from a deployment perspective. Focus on context issues implies exposing all the embedded issues linked to innovation deployment pathway from the beginning to the end, and the specific geographical contextual issues within the African continent.
Focus on context is about asking how science or technology defines real challenges. Context would bring to the limelight aspects that have social, economic and institutional implications. Institutional implications evoke things like institutions as well as organizations that are responsible for deployment of the innovation, the policy coherence issues, issues of relationships, issues of intellectual property rights, power dynamics, and the role of actors in the process. Other issues include the sovereignty of African consumers and farmers, which stimulate change in policy in the greater context.
(2) Emphasis has been on product pathway as opposed to the process pathway
Product pathway is similar to the science pathway or the science approach, but process pathway is basically linked to what is called the process innovation. When you look at the process pathway, then there are key embedded issues critical to a sustained deployment of any technological innovation. The process of innovation brings out issues of institutions and partnerships, who is supposed to be involved, how do they fit in in the process. It also calls for rethinking the research questions that may be asked – like who will use the tools that are being advanced, how will projects be facilitated and where will scientific inquiry take place? This helps in enhancing participation and consultation among the different stakeholders. It also allows us to think about strategic engagement and the importance of multiple actors, and how to incorporate their interests, as well as the values that they come with.
Another process-oriented issue is what we can call local capacity and competence and the localization of knowledge. This is very important because capacities for deployment of new technological applications or new innovations, must be built progressively and not brought from another context to be adopted. These capacities are diverse depending on geographical context and include human, technical, infrastructure, policy, among others. Institutional capabilities, which are normally not accounted for, also need to be acknowledged. Local scientists need to get involved and engaged in the research process, including data collection, analysis and evaluation, and how this feeds back to the decision-making process. This brings out the role of honest brokers who can span the interests of both the proponents as well as the opponents, in order to factor these differing values in decision making.
Process innovation embraces holistic view of the deployment pathway leading to asking not just how to make biotech product innovation cheaper or better or stronger or adaptable; but ask questions around what actors, knowledge and institutions are needed to make innovation cheaper or stronger or adaptable, and how this can lead to more sustainable, inclusive, equitable economic and social development.
Conclusion
There is need to rethink the biotechnology debate and consider the different perspectives. One of the perspectives is governance – and the need to ask how to govern new technological applications, with respect to regulatory styles and approaches, stakeholders’ engagement and social licensing that is becoming a topical area.
The following is what we can learn from an African experience to sustainably advance biotechnologies.
- Value based conversations –(to deal with the hyped approach). All perspectives and interests must be valued.
- Context within which innovations/products can be advanced sustainably and the potential for their uptake depends largely on the social and institutional ecosystem that supports the deployment process including accumulation of technical & nontechnical
- A sustainable deployment pathway for biotechnology innovation must consider the generation of knowledge & evidence that reconcile economic growth with social sustainability as well as environmental
- A rethinking of governance frameworks is proposed that takes cognizance of the biotech innovation process that is much broader than product innovation and entails institutional and social practices; and capabilities that are needed to enhance a sustainable outcome (process innovation).
About the speaker
Dr. Ann Kingiri is a Principal Research Fellow and the Director of Research and Innovation at the African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS). She is also the Secretary General of The African Network for the Economics of Learning, Innovation, and Competence Building Systems (AfricaLics – www.africaLics,org). She is a co-PI in the Trilateral Research Chair in Transformative Innovation (TRCTI), University of Johannesburg. More about Ann see – https://www.acts-net.org/dr-ann-kingiri
About the moderator
Ann Numi is a researcher at the African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS). She is also a PhD candidate studying innovation and sustainable development at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology (JOOUST), under the TRCTI Programme. Her research aims to provide in-depth understanding of the Agricultural Biotechnology Technological Innovation System (ABTIS), it’s build-up over the years and factors influencing its functionality regarding development and deployment of agricultural biotechnology in Kenya.
