What can GM crops achieve for food security in Africa?
GMOs as stand-alone technologies cannot achieve food security in Africa. But GMOs are very helpful for particular challenges like pests, bad soil, or droughts. They can also enhance the nutritional content of crops. The most prominent example here is Golden Rice that contains more beta-carotene, which helps to prevent vitamin A deficiency. In Kenya, there is a similar project enhancing the nutritional value of Sorghum. But genetical engineering alone isn’t enough. A maize variety that has been genetically modified to be resistant against a certain pest won’t deliver higher yields if you do not have conventional methods that also help you improve the maize. So what conventional biotechnologies will influence future agriculture? Once you mention biotechnology, people talk about GMOs. But biotechnology is far more. Tissue culture, for instance, is not genetic engineering. You simply take a cell and nourish it with nutrients and hormones to get a whole new plant from which you can grow mil
