China is embracing genetically modified crops. Africa, what are you waiting for?
Many African governments should reevaluate their regulatory standards and embrace technology. This will help us address low agricultural productivity and poverty issues.
Jan 03, 2025
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The African governments must decide if they want to fight poverty in the continent or continue to plunge millions of Africans into hunger. A deliberate policy change towards boosting agricultural productivity would help us address the poverty challenge.
We can learn from various parts of the world that are busy changing their policies to increase agricultural production. For example, China, which has close relations with several governments in Africa, is advancing in boosting its agricultural sector in an admirable way, which Africa should emulate.
Amongst many interventions, China is advancing seed breeding in maize, soybeans and other staple crops. They are embracing science to boost their agricultural development. Our primary focus in Africa should be seed breeding or improving agricultural productivity.
Of course, this is not the only issue to focus on. We must also address land governance, enhance infrastructure across the network industries, ensure limited government intervention in trade and commodity prices, embrace large-scale farming, ease farmers’ access to finance, and strengthen producer organizations, among other interventions.
I am highlighting seed breeding because Africa has struggled with low agricultural productivity for some time. The recent increase in output has primarily been due to an expansion in the planted area rather than a yield boost.
China’s focus on booting yields is driving them to embrace biotech seeds. On December 31, 2024, Reuters, a media organization, published an article titled “China approves more GM crops to boost yields, ensure food security“. The article stated that:
“China has approved five gene-edited crop varieties and 12 types of genetically modified soybean, corn and cotton, expanding approvals to boost high-yield crops, reduce import reliance, and ensure food security.”
The article added that:
“Over the past year, the country has increased approvals for higher-yielding genetically modified corn and soybean seeds to raise domestic production and reduce grain imports.”
While we wait to see the wide-scale commercial release of the approved varieties, we can all see that China has no aversion to genetically modified crops. China also imports genetically modified maize and soybeans.
Let us consider maize; the approval of genetically modified seeds may further lift the Chinese maize yields, which are currently at somewhat admirable levels. The fertilizer usage and favourable environmental conditions also contribute to yield improvement.
Currently, China’s maize yields are comparable with those of South Africa, the United States, and Brazil, amongst others, which have long adopted genetically modified seeds.
Thus, I suspect adopting genetically modified seeds will further lift the yields. Furthermore, in countries like the United States, Brazil and Argentina, amongst others, genetically modified seeds have had additional benefits such as lowering insecticide use, more environmentally friendly tillage practices and crop yield improvement.
And yes, we can be frank: China faces a monumental task in lessening its dependency on grains and oilseed imports. The yield improvement will need to be significant to change the current reality. China is one of the world’s largest maize and soybean importers. The country accounts for roughly 11% of global maize imports and 62% of the world’s soybean imports.
Therefore, given China’s import significance, an improvement in the domestic production of maize and soybeans would have notable implications for global grain trade and prices. A reduced volume of China’s soybeans and maize imports in the global market would mean downward pressure on international prices. Enough about China; what does this all mean for Africa?
Implications for the African continent
Beyond the global price implications, African countries, which have long resisted cultivating and importing genetically modified crops, should closely monitor these developments. South Africa is the only exception that has embraced genetically modified crops since the 2001/02 season. The country has also enjoyed improvements in yields and is now a leading producer of grains in the region.
Notably, although the yields are also influenced by improved germplasm (enabled by non-genetically modified biotechnology) and improved low and no-till production methods (facilitated through herbicide-tolerant genetically modified technology), other benefits of genetically modified seeds include labour savings and reduced insecticide use as well as enhanced weed and pest control.
Hence, with many African countries currently struggling to meet their annual food needs, using technology, genetically modified seeds, and other means should be an avenue to explore and boost production. Many African governments should reevaluate their regulatory standards and embrace technology.
Implications for South Africa
The Chinese development is relevant to Africa and essential to South Africa (and yes, I know South Africa is part of Africa – I got my geography right).
South African farmers and agribusinesses should also closely monitor the developments in China. The increase in production in other parts of the world, specifically in maize, where South Africa is a net exporter, could bring increased competition and downward pressure on prices in the long term. Some of South Africa’s key maize export markets are South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Vietnam, and they all have proximity to China. With that said, the most urgent matter, for now, is Africa; we must embrace science