Diagnostic research to enable adoption of transgenic crop varieties by smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Diagnostic research is important in helping to create an enabling environment for promising 
biotechnology products in smallholder agriculture, before rather than after release. The biotechnology 
products that now hold promise for poor people in Sub-Saharan Africa are those that tackle 
economically important, biotic or abiotic problems not easily addressed through conventional plant 
breeding or pest control, in crops that serve for food as well as cash, while posing little risk of 
endangering trade. Two biotechnology products we have selected for social science research in East 
Africa, Bt maize in Kenya and pest and disease resistance in the East African highland banana, meet 
these criteria. Preliminary research suggests that the expression of the trait is much more visible to 
farmers in maize than in bananas; for either crop, for different reasons, bottlenecks will be encountered 
in planting materials systems; and despite differing crop reproduction systems, transgenic varieties of 
either share the same environmental hazard of heightened genetic uniformity in the inserted trait 
relative to conventionally bred varieties. Aside from the performance of the technology, many factors 
that have incidence at national, regional, and farm levels will affect the likelihood that farmers will adopt 
transgenic varieties. Social science research can help pinpoint necessary complementary investments.