Southern Africa Biotechnology Program (SABP)
Project Background
Science and technology (S&T) constitute one of two major pillars of the Initiative to End Hunger in Africa (IEHA) strategy to cut hunger in half by 2015. Leveraging the new scientific tools of biotechnology to generate crops that will increase agricultural production is one component of the broader S&T strategy of the Regional Center for Southern Africa (RCSA)under this IEHA pillar. Biotechnology can contribute to increases in productivity and quality, thus stabilizing food supplies, lowering food costs, and improving nutritional quality to contribute to greater food security in the region. It will also provide the production surpluses that contribute to higher rural incomes, a key driver of the process of transforming rural economies.
During Phase I of the Southern Africa Biotechnology Program cassava was identified as a priority crop because of the following factors:
- Cassava has many uses as a food security crop, processed food ingredient, and as an industrial input.
- The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) recently launched a cassava initiative.
- USAID/Missions in Africa are currently investing in cassava.
- The private sector in South Africa has shown substantial interest in cassava.
- Southern Africa Root Crops Research Network (SARRNET) is a highly functional agricultural network in the region and has established national networks for cassava.
- Regional and international cassava scientists have already organized themselves as a result of phase I activities and have submitted a comprehensive regional proposal for cassava biotechnology research and dissemination.
Cassava mosaic disease
Cassava mosaic disease (CMD) is caused by several geminiviruses and is transmitted by whiteflies Bemisia tabaci. CMD is pandemic in East central and Southern Africa and severely reduce yield and put small farmers at risk. In Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa, CMD causes significant food losses every year. Host plant resistance and transgenic approaches are currently being pursued. CMD is the major constraint for cassava production in Southern Africa. This applies to cassava grown for food as well as for starch production, both at the smallholder and commercial level. Much progress has been made in understanding CMD and in engineering cassava to resist it. It is an opportune time to adapt genetic engineering techniques to cassava in Southern Africa.
At the same time, cassava has much potential as a source of industrial starch. Starch production is one of the most important agro-industries worldwide, with a total value of around US$20 billion. Starches can be divided into three types according to the market: native starch, modified starch and sweeteners. Starch is a very versatile raw material because its native form can be modified (physically, chemically or enzymatically) by relatively simple processes. The demand for starch is influenced by its versatility. Starch is used in the food industry as a thickener, filler, binder and stabilizer, as well as for improving food texture. Starches also play a very important role in non-food industries such as paper and cardboard, adhesives, textiles, medicines, oil well drilling, construction and the chemical industry. The industrial modification of native starches has expanded the range of potential uses by tailoring particular products to specific industrial needs.
With genetic engineering it is possible to actively improve the quality of starch and even generate new types of starch. New applications of cassava starch can stimulate the development of starch industries based on cassava. Opportunities in both food and starch production can boost food security and raise the incomes of small farmers.
Success in these areas can benefit the entire region. CMD resistant cassava varieties are needed wherever cassava is grown including South Africa, Malawi, and Mozambique.
For focused regional technology development the Southern Africa Biotechnology Program (SABP) must work closely with the USAID funded Program for Biosafety Systems (PBS) to ensure that its efforts complement those of PBS as it develops regional policy dialogue and services in the area of biosafety. Like PBS, SABP will engage regional bodies in Southern Africa, such as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and Biosafety, Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN), and NEPAD, involved with issues of biotechnology policy. The actions of these groups can influence national policies related to the commercialization and adoption of some forms of biotechnology and, thus, affect the ability of biotechnology efforts to deliver on the Initiative to End Hunger in Africa objectives. SABP and PBS's synergistic coordination will provide a comprehensive biotechnology strategy for Southern Africa that will accelerate the development of national policies across the region more favorable to the adoption of bioengineered crops, and increased regional trade in these commodities.
Program Approach
- To develop farmer preferred cassava genotypes resistant to the specific strains of the Cassava Mosaic Disease found in Southern Africa through utilization of a bio-engineering strategy.
- To identify and assess the potential market opportunities for modified cassava starch though an ex ante cost benefit analysis.
- To develop cassava genotypes with specific genes for improved and modified starches via genetic transformation and improve the efficiency of genetic transformation of cassava to accelerate the introduction of genes related to novel starch characteristics.
- To strengthen the cassava production, processing and marketing sectors in Malawi and Mozambique building upon the activities that IITA-SARRNET have been implementing during the last two years with USAID funding and linking small holder cassava producers with the private sector in South Africa.
- The adoption of improved varieties.
- Setting up small scale agro enterprises.
- The commercialization to increase added value to the crops.
- To build regional capacity for cassava genetic transformation and field testing.
Host plant resistance and transgenic approaches are currently being pursued. Researchers at the Danforth Center have successfully transformed susceptible cassava African varieties and produced plants that resist CMD under greenhouse conditions.
The transgenic cassava plants generated at the Danforth Center are the result of eleven years of research carried out by Dr. Claude Fauquet in collaboration with a number of African scientists. The current project will complete the on-going survey and characterization of CMD distribution in Malawi and Mozambique and will start field testing transgenic cassava in South Africa, depending on the approval of biosafety permits by the GM authorities. The purpose will be to evaluate the GM lines, developed at the Danforth Center, for CMD resistance.
Maize starch dominates the world market, but other sources of starch are starting to have regional and global importance. Cassava starch production has increased considerably in SE Asia, and there are good prospects for a similar outlook in Latin America and Africa. Cassava starch can be produced at farm level or by large-size extraction factories. It is a simpler process than maize starch production, since it does not require the addition of water prior to the extraction process. The market analysis will determine the economic profitability of the introduction of a modified starch GM product in South Africa,. This will also allow the selection of the most appropriate genes for genetic transformation and the proper targeting of particular products to specific industrial needs.
Cassava starch has several unique properties that result in a high demand for particular industrial processes: resistance to acid media, resistance to shear stress, high viscosity, production of transparent gels, etc. Investment in research to produce a broader range of genetically modified cassava starches will certainly result in expanded market options for the crop.
Genetic variants for cassava starch are in very high demand by the food and non-food industries, and they represent one of the cassava-derived products with the largest potential demand increases in the near future. Genetically modified cassava targeting the starch pathway will expand the range of potential uses for cassava starch, through the development of genetic materials with an enhanced capacity to concentrate starches with different amylose/amylopectin ratios, increased levels of bound phosphates and high resistance to stress factors (freezing, acid media, shear stress). The University of Wageningen has produced a cassava genotype with amylose-free starch through genetic modification. The lack of amylose of the genetically modified starch results in an increase in the clarity and stability of gels, without requiring treatment with environment-unfriendly chemicals which are normally used to improve stability.
Several labs including CIAT, the Danforth Center, Ohio State University and Wageningen University have developed transgenic cassava plants since the beginning of the mid 90's. CIAT has already field tested transgenic cassava for insect resistance in Colombia and the Danforth Center has conducted greenhouse testing in Kenya for CMD resistance. Still transformation efficiency varies by genotype and with the developmental stage of the explant. The improvement of the efficiency of genetic transformation of cassava will accelerate the introduction of genes related to increased proteins and novel starch characteristics in a wide range of varieties.
Cassava, small-scale farmers usually lack access to improved varieties, cropping techniques and processing methods that could increase the productivity of their land and the sustainability of their agricultural systems. Adding value to the production, through small enterprises that produce products demanded by identified growth markets, is an approach that can improve rural livelihoods by creating new employment and income opportunities while also providing incentives for farmers to adopt improved technologies. This approach has being used with success in various countries of Latin America and is now part of the portfolio of methodologies that the Latin American Consortium to Support Cassava Research and Development (CLAYUCA), a CIAT-supported consortium, is using to promote sustainable development of the cassava crop. Both CLAYUCA and SARRNET seek to increase income and improve the welfare of cassava small farmers by increasing the productivity through:
This component of the project will result in the establishment of a private-public consortium to support research and development of cassava in at least one Southern African country. A detailed understanding of the sub-sector and market opportunities will lead to increased awareness among stakeholders of potential opportunities for cassava in the region. While sustainable and appropriate production and processing technologies can be adopted by farmers and industrial entrepreneurs.
Capacity can be built in the region by training scientists from Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa at advanced research institutions in the US, Europe and CGIAR system. In addition, biosafety capacity should be developed in the region to understand and address the regulatory requirements related to the eventual introduction of any GM Cassava products in Southern African countries.
To achieve these objectives the project will integrate the activities of regional and international institutions with recognized expertise in developing virus resistant transgenic cassava genotypes and developing cassava for modified starch.
This program will establish and integrate a broad consortium of institutions with expertise in areas such as molecular starch biosynthetic pathways; cassava genetic transformation; biosafety requirements of cassava field trial implementation; development of virus resistant cassava genotypes; implementation of cassava starch small processing facilities and linking private and public sector activities.
The project will result in an enhanced capacity initially for the respective National Programs in South Africa, Malawi and Mozambique and at a later stage for other countries in the regions, in order to develop cassava genotypes with virus resistance and with modified starch properties and to link small farmers in marginal regions with production markets.
A growing problem in Mozambique and emerging in Malawi is cassava brown streak virus (BSMV). Assessments made at the Danforth Center suggest that while Brown Streak virus is a major constraint for cassava production, additional information is still needed as to the nature of the virus before recommending a transgenic strategy (ies). Currently, the Rockefeller Foundation and IITA are funding such a study. Based on their results a decision will be made in 2006 as to the right approach for BSMV. This project will lay the foundation for quickly taking up that approach for tackling the constraint with biotechnology.
Lead Institutions:
- Chancellor College - Malawi
- CIAT-Agrobiodiversity and Biotechnology project
- Clayuca
- Donald Danforth Plant Science Center-ILTAB; IITA-SARRNET
- INIA - Mozambique
- Wageningen University, The Netherlands
- University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
- Agricultural Research Council (ARC); and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), South Africa
Contacts:
Dr. Joe Tohme, SABP Co-Director
International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)
A.A. 6713, Cali, Colombia
Tel: + 650 833-6625; Fax: +650 8336626; e-mail: j.tohme@cgiar.org
Dr Johan Brink, SABP Co-Director
Institute of International Agriculture,
319 Agriculture Hall, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823
Tel: + 1 517 432-1641; Fax: +1 517 353-1888; Mobile: + 1 517-944-5766; e-mail: brinkj@msu.edu
