Source – allAfrica / The Ethiopian Herald
Editorial
Date – 13 Oct 2015
Website – allafrica.com
Agriculture for ages has been the backbone of the nation’s economy and 80 per cent of the population relies on it for eking out a living. However,as it is true in most developing countries, it is characterized by subsistence farming. It is also heavily dependent on nature and traditional ways practiced for a century.
Before the incumbent started a move to modernize it, the low level knowledge or technology utilized in the sector had been making farmers lead a hand-to-mouth life. And as such when an inclement weather surfaces,more often, crop will face ravages.
Nowadays, countries ,allover the world, have agreed that without utilizing agricultural inputs developed by scientific findings,averting poverty and breaking the vicious cycle of famine is impossible. Hence,adopting biotechnology is taken as a way forward.
Rapid population growth in rural part of Africa is a common phenomena. This triggers an increase in food demand. To satisfy this need, more agricultural farm is needed. This in turn further aggravates land degradation and the depletion of natural resources which puts the reliability of agriculture under a question mark.
On the other hand, the growing of food demand aggravates the already sky rocketing food price in the world market.
Currently, most African countries including Ethiopia are forced to spend huge amount of hard currency to balance their deficit in the importation of food.
Amazingly, Africa is the largest continent in the world with vast arable land, which is underutilized for want of technology and finance. Hence, fostering the adaptation of bio-tech should not be taken as a leisure,it rather should be a norm to bring a long lasting solution for multidimensional agricultural problem.
The Ethiopian government has fully accepted the adaptation of the bio-tech for a bump up for agricultural productivity. It has given emphasis to the matter both on GTP one and two. By now there are many agricultural research centres both at federal and regional level.
They are well equipped with scientific apparatus and skilled human power. In this regard, the role of the Ethiopian Agricultural Research Institute can bee seen exemplary. The institution with its Holeta branch,among others, has been doing its level best in scientific research for the improvement of corps and animals. It provides hybrid plants and animals to the farmers and such actions is expected to modernize farming practices.
The biotechnology employed in the centre innovates the invention of better crops which resist drought,pests,diseases. And as such it increases productivity per hectare. Though the supply of improved seeds does not seem to reach to all small-scale farmers as needed, the current trend indicates that each farmer can gain a lot from the technology.
Study shows that farmers lose their huge amount of yield due to drought,pests and diseases. This trend in turn will leave them impoverished with very small income.
Hence, the utilization of bio-tech and its expansion is promising a glimmer of hope. In addition to improving productivity,bio-tech increases farmers income thereby helping poverty reduction. In Ethiopia each year about half a million working force join the rural farming sector with no sufficient land and plowing oxen. This forces the effort of reducing poverty back to square one.
Hence,expanding scientific methods in farming can facilitate the efficient production of crop with high productivity capacity thereby enabling the supply of labour to the non-farming sector which supports economic diversification.
Currently there is an academic discourse between pro and anti bio technology groups all over the world and each might have their own argument but it could be balanced.
Anti-biodiversity groups argue that,the plantation of new transgenic with new characters might trigger the extinction of indigenous plants however,pro biotechnology groups reject such suggestion arguing that rather it protects the indigenous plants from extinction by preserving their gene in the laboratory and with the necessary precaution. Utilizing bio-tech can break a cycle of food insecurity and famine.
Votaries of anti-bio- tech, on their part, say that, bio-tech bred seeds coming from other parts of the world such as the USA and Europe, because of patent right,could allow advanced countries impose their interest on developing countries’ small scale farmers.
Furthermore, the seeds only planted for first generation and farmers with no option should get seeds from abroad for the next season and this practice leave them to be dependent on western agricultural companies.
Contrary to this, pro-bio-tech lobbyists argue that, scientists in Africa can independently adopt bio-tech and implement their research findings without resorting to purchasing bio-tech products from Europe and America and with that, they can make African farmers free from dependency on technology from abroad.
In this regard,they cite the experience of Kenyan scientists. They are advancing in bio-technology and utilizing it and they have gained a lot. In some parts of Africa bio-technology not only support the strive to food security but also the increment of productivity of non-food-crops such as cotton to meet the growing textile industries demand.
In this regard Burkinafaso and Sudan can be mentioned as an example. They are trying to meet their cotton demand for their local textile industries by redoubling their cotton productivity with bio-technology.
In our context, the government plans to expand textile industries for the expansion of economic diversification. Textile industries are labour intensive and can create job opportunities for tens of thousands. Hence, increasing the productivity of cotton farms through the utilization of bio-technology is very essential.
Currently textile industries do not satisfy their cotton demand from local market and has to import raw materials from abroad. This trend must be changed and the demand should be met from local market. Therefore, focusing on scientific innovation is essential for the enhancement of agricultural productivity.
However, side by side with the application of biotechnology ,taking care of the negative aspect of the utilization must be considered and all countries have to agree to abide by the ratified law. Ethiopia has her own bio-safety low for scrutinizing the application of agricultural technology. The law clearly indicates how to import, transport from place to place,apply and dispose used biotechnology.
The law underlines that violating rules poses legal liability. Negligence and carelessness in the application of elements used in the laboratory might inflict heavy price on environment and human health at large. The proper utilization of biotechnology has a power to revolutionize the nation’s agricultural endeavour.
Hence, supporting Ethiopian scientists, who are engaged in bio-technology research and its application is not a task to be deferred for tomorrow and to that end, all stakeholders should deliver what is expected from them.