Harnessing biotechnology and genetic engineering for agricultural development in the Near East and North Africa

Abstract

According to FAO studies on prospects for food, agriculture would be required to feed 9.3 billion people by 2050. More than 83% of those people would be in developing countries. Thus, to meet the global demand for food by that year, a 60% increase in food production would be required. Considering that most of the world's prime land is already under cultivation, such a major increase in food production could only be achieved by increasing productivity per unit of land and water. To achieve substantial increases in productivity without further degrading the environment, new cropping and livestock systems are needed based on novel crop varieties with traits like drought tolerance and pest and disease resistance, coupled with changes in plant architecture and yield. Agricultural biotechnology has the potential to revolutionize our capacity to produce food, fiber, fuel, and pharmaceuticals. The continued exponential growth in knowledge and understanding of genome structure and function will enable more sophisticated and complex changes in plant and animal varieties than the relatively crude transformations that are now commercially available. The direction of agriculture biotechnology research and development will profoundly affect agricultural systems, fisheries and forestry of tomorrow, impacting on agricultural and natural environments across the globe. Biotechnology, however, has its risks. Besides the direct risks to biodiversity inherent in the flow of transgenes from crops to their wild relatives and landraces, there are also risks associated with changes in crop management leading to the loss of in situ biodiversity. To increase the benefits from biotechnology and to reduce risks, we need to rapidly evolve a clear regulatory environment through which to bring biotechnology products to the grower and consumer. Successful regulatory implementation requires the capacity to conduct safety assessments to ascertain whether a proposed use of a particular GMO is safe for human health and the environment. To address these issues, F AO and ICARDA organized a policy dialog meeting on Harnessing Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering for Agricultural Development in the Near East and North Africa (NENA), in Cairo, Egypt, 12-14 February 2006. The meeting covered four subjects: Background Information and Status of Biotech Crops; Biosafety and Biotech Crops: Challenges and Opportunities for NENA; Country Reports: Current Status and Future Perspectives; Biotechnology and Food Security in NENA/WANA Region - New Trends in Agriculture Biotechnology in the Region.