Global Perspectives on

Agricultural Biotechnology

By Gary R. Blumenthal

At IITA

Ibadan, Nigeria

31 August 2009

Speaker’s Biases• Desktop Farmer (Information products)

• Fundamental S&D; Policy Overlay

• Since 1980

• Global Analysts

• Clients • Multinationals: ABC’s, Inputs

• Food Processors

• Financial Institutions

• Hedge Funds

• Farmers/Cooperatives

• Consulting Projects

Quiz

a. Selective Breeding

b. Genetically modified

via biotechnology

c. Nollywood

“African countries need to think and operate as stakeholders, rather than accepting the „victim mentality‟ created in Europe.”

Florence Wambugu ISAAA

Biotech and

Yields

•U.S. yields outpace

EU

•Productivity

+4.4%/year

•GM Wheat

agreement

Agricultural Investment

• Food processing

has captured

just 10% of

cross-border

investment;

• Production

agriculture

received just

0.0006%

Ag Biotechnology Investment

• US$8.6 billion Venture

capital investment in life

sciences in 2007.

• One-third of all venture

capital in U.S., Canada and

Sweden in life sciences.

Efficient Regulatory

Management

Components

• National Biosafety Policy

• Regulatory Regime (objective)

• Transparent Administrative system

• Public Awareness and Participation

• System for Follow-up

High cost of

regulatory

compliance is

one of the

reasons

delaying

release of

events in

developing

countries.

FAO

2-5 years,

all new

crops.

Excessive

regulation

has its

impact.

Publicly Supported GM Field Trials

Pace Grows Exponentially

1,000,000,000

100,000,000

10,000,000

1,000,000

100,000

10,000

1,000

100

Manual Slab

Gel

Automated

Slab Gel First-

generation

capillary

Second-

generation

capillary

sequencer

Microwell

pyrosequenc

ing

Short-read

sequencers

Single

molecule?

Massively

parallel

sequencing

Capillary

sequencing

Gel-based

systems

Still Debating Last Century’s

Technology

Metabolic Pathway Engineering

Synthetic Biology

Nanotechnology

Transgenics

Mutagenisis

Cloning

Selective Breeding and Hybridization

Biotech and Nigeria’s Future

• Hunger

• Health/Output Traits

• Disease/Insect/Herbicide Resistance

• Nitrogen Fixing

• Drought Resistance

• Salinity Tolerance

• Climate Change (both GHG reduction and

adaptation)

• Energy

President

Yar’adua:

Not just food

security but

agriculture as a

major foreign

exchange

earner by 2020.

Conclusions

Thank you.