World Journal of Microbiology & Biotechnology 10, 243-248
Review
Biotechnology and sustainable development in Sub-Saharan Africa N. Okafor Whether development is defined by the long-standing economic parameter of per capita gross national product (GNP) or by the newly introduced Human Development Index (HDI), which is not based exclusively on per capita GNP, the countries of sub-Saharan Africa rank at or near the bottom of the developing world. Agriculture and agro-based processing are the mainstays of the economies of the majority of these countries. Because of this, and also because many of the diseases endemic in these countries are communicable, the application of modern biotechnology (including genetic engineering, tissue culture and monoclonal antibody technology) and related biotechnologies could play an important part in creating sustainable development in the region. There is, therefore, an urgent need to train more of the region's indigenous citizens, and to equip more laboratories, in modern biotechnology. It is suggested that, in order to accelerate the harnessing of the fruits of biotechnology, more countries in the region should affiliate with the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB). It is further suggested that a regional equivalent of the ICGEB be built and the services of nongovernmental biotechnology organizations used.
Key words: Biotechnology, development, genetic engineering, sub-Saharan Africa, sustainable.
In this review, in order to place biotechnology's possible role in the development of sub-Saharan Africa in a proper perspective, the meaning of the word 'development' and the parameters for its measurement, will be examined. Sub-Saharan Africa's ranking among developing countries will be discussed using these parameters. The possible role of biotechnology in the development of the region, the constraints on this role, and suggestions for dealing with the constraints are considered.
The Concept of 'Development' In the abstract sense, every country or society is developing. This is because every country has before it an ideal state of well-being for its citizens, conceived by itself, even if not properly articulated, which depends on its history, natural (biological and mineral) resources, population size, the education of its citizens and its ability to gain access to the pool of the world's technological knowledge or to contribute to that pool. This optimal state of well-being is, however, a Utopian and unattainable ideal. Its unattainability is partly due to the The author is with Nnarndi Azikiwe University, P. M. B. 5025, Awka, Nigeria. Address correspondence to P. M. B. 1457, Enugu, Nigeria; fax: +234-42332059.
imperfections of human capabilities and partly because the ideal itself is constantly changing as the country or society is exposed to new ideas. No two countries have identical Utopias. 'Development', therefore, may be taken as change in a society or country within a given time, leading to progress towards the ideal state of well-being conceived by that society or country for itself. In the view of this author, the most important element in the potential of a country or society to achieve development is that country's ability to gain access to the pool of the world's technology. Such access, which will enable the country to exploit its natural resources for the benefit of its people, is largely dependent on the availability of indigenous manpower adequately trained in those aspects of science and technology relevant to the development of the
country.
The Indicators of Development and the Geographical Grouping of Developing Countries Although all countries and societies may, in the abstract sense, be developing, in practice the assessment of development is
© 1994 Rapid Communications of Oxford Ltd
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N. Okafor usually based on the wealth of a country as determined by the per capita Gross National Product (per capita GNP). The GNP itself is the sum of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP; which is the total value of goods and services generated from agriculture, industries and services), and earnings from abroad in the forms of overseas worker remittances, interest on loans and similar earnings. On the basis of their per capita GNP, the World Bank has classified countries of the world into low income (less than US $640 per capita per year), middle income (less than US $6000 but more than $640), and high income (more than US $6000) countries. Developing countries are to be found mainly in the low bracket, while the economically developed countries are found exclusively in the high income group (Anon. 1989, 1990, 1992 a,b).
The Economic Indicators of Sub-Saharan Africa The most striking feature of the countries of sub-Saharan Africa is their economic poverty. Among the countries of the world, they are at the bottom or close to the bottom of the table in all the parameters by which development is measured,
including per capita GNP, life expectancy, percentage engaged in full-time secondary education, number of physicians per capita and daily calorie intake. In terms of population growth, the region has the highest rate, 3.3%, a factor which contributes to its continued poverty (Anon. 1989, 1992 a,b). A poignant illustration of the situation is that, whereas subSaharan Africa has a population of 450 million, it has a GDP of about US $135 billion, approximately the same as that of Belgium, which has a population of only 10 million (Anon. 1989). In economically developed countries such as the USA, agriculture provides only a small percentage (< 5%) of the GDP (the goods and services generated from agriculture, industry, and services) while industry and services provide the bulk. On the other hand, in sub-Saharan African countries (see Table 1), agriculture provides a large part (at least 40%) of the GDP and industry and services contribute smaller percentages when compared with economically developed countries (Anon. 1990). Sub-Saharan countries are also among the most indebted worldwide. Thus 10 of the 45 sub-Saharan countries owe at least US $5 billion each, with Nigeria (US $28 billion), Ivory Coast (US $10 billion) and Zaire (US $8 billion) topping the list. For many countries of the region, long-term debt amounts to
Table 1. Bealc economic indicators of some aub-Saharan and other countries (Anon. 1992). Country/Region
Gross National Product (US S/capita)
Proportion of the Gross Domestic Product (%) from: Agriculture
Industry
Manufacturing
Services
Life expectancy (years)
Selected sub-Saharan countries Tanzania Sierra Leone Nigeria Kenya Malawi Ghana
130 220 250 360 180 390
66 46 31 31 35 49
7 11 44 20 19 17
4 6 10 12 11 10
27 42 25 49 45 34
49 42 51 59 48 55
Selected high-income countries UK USA
14,610 20,910
2 2
37 29
20 17
62 69
76 76
340 540 320 2180
32 24 32 NA
27 44 26 NA
11 33 17 NA
38 34 41 NA
51 68 58 65
1950
16
33
23
51
67
Various regions of the developing world Sub-Sahara East Asia* South Asia+ Europet, Middle East, North Africa and Afghanistan Latin America and the Caribbean
*The low- and middle-income countries of East and South-East Asia and the Pacific East, including Thailand and China. *Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. tCyprus, Greece, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania and the former Yugoslavia. NA--Not available.
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Biotechnology in Sub-Saharan Africa as much as 200% of the GNP and servicing these debts consumes at least 20% of GNP (Anon. 1989, 1990).
A New Alternative to Per Capita GNP as the Index of Development: the Human Development Index (HDI) The use of per capita GNP as the measure of development has been criticized on several grounds. Firstly, wealth, as defined by a high GNP or per capita GNP, does not always go pari passu with the highest quality of life. Thus, in 1985, South Africa bad a much higher GNP per head (US $2010) than Sri Lanka (US $340) but South Africa had a lower life expectancy (55 versus 70 years) (Anon. 1989; Sen 1990.) A second criticism is that the per capita income does not always indicate the ability of a country to exploit its natural resources through the use of mainly indigenous manpower, the availability of which is a key factor in ensuring sustainable development. Furthermore, a high per capita GNP does not necessarily indicate a high level of industrialization in a country. Thus Kuwait in 1979 had a per capita GNP of about US $17,000, larger than those of Switzerland (US $14,000) and the USA (US $10,000) in that year, even though the latter two countries had greater indigenous access to technology and were therefore more industrialized (Griffin & Knight 1990). A third criticism is that per capita GNP does not take into the account inequality in income distribution within the country (Thirwall 1983). Finally, per capita GNP does not recognize subsistence activities which, in developing (middle and low income) countries, are very important. These include the contributions of small-scale farmers, housewives and similar individuals (Thirwall 1983). These and other difficulties in defining a proper index for development have, in recent times, led to the evolution of other ideas which do not focus exdusively on per capita GNP, such as the Human Development Index (HDI). Although the ideas inherent in the HDI approach have been gestating for some time, they have been clarified and ordered by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Commission, under M. U1 Haq, former Foreign Minister of Pakistan, in its first publication: Human Development Report, 1991 (Anon. 1991). HDI focuses not on per capita GNP, and the other indicators of economic activity, but on the people on whose activities development depends. Thus the new system is based on the basic indicators of human well-being: life expectancy, adult literacy, mean years of education, and the possibility of a decent standard of living. Being new, the HDI method of evaluating development is still being refined but even on the basis of this new method, sub-Saharan Africa still lags behind other developing regions. For instance, in 1992 and 1993, no sub-Saharan African country came within the first 15 places in terms of HDI, while the last 20 places were occupied by Bhutan, Afghanistan and 18 sub-Saharan countries (Anon. 1992c, 1993).
The Concept of 'Sustainable Development' The concept of sustainability is not new and has its roots in the early recognition that economic growth was limited by the exhaustibility of natural resources. Malthus speculated that population would be limited by lack of food, while Riccardo speculated on the exhaustibility of land (Redclift 1987; Nicolaisen et al. 1991). The idea of sustainability is easy to grasp when agriculture is considered and the literature on this topic is vast. In sustainable agricultural systems the technologies used to increase crop and livestock yields do not undermine the productivity of the natural resource base. Hence the current user of a facility satisfies his need without jeopardizing the chances of future users of the same facility from satisfying their own requirements (Ruttan 1988; Smith 1990). The issue of sustainability in development was examined more broadly by the World Commission on Environment and Development, set up by the United Nations under the leadership of G. Harlem Brundtland, then Prime Minister of Norway. Their report, entitled Our Common Future (Anon. 1987), defines sustainable development as a 'process of change in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of technological development, and institutional change are all in harmony, and enhance both current and future potential to meet human needs and aspirations'. As emphasized in Human Development Report, 1991, for development to be sustainable, each generation must meet its current needs without incurring debts it cannot repay and without compromising the lives of future generations (Anon. 1991).
The Nature of Biotechnology In the broadest sense, biotechnology may be defined as the manipulation of biological objects or their products for the production of valuable goods or services. In recent times biotechnology has gained new impetus because of the availability of new techniques, notably recombinant DNA technology, protoplast fusion, plant and animal cell culture, and monodonal antibody technology. In the context of this paper, the term modem biotechnology will be applied whenever any of these techniques is involved.
The Potential Contribution of Modern Biotechnology to the Development of the African Continent As stated above, the economies of most countries in the region are based on agriculture, and where industries exist they are mostly agro-allied. Many of the diseases are communicable and amenable to prophylaxis by vaccination. Development in sub-Saharan Africa would mean changes leading to higher per capita GNP, longer life expectancy, better World Journal of Microbiology & Biotechnology, Vo110, I994
245
N. Okafor healthcare delivery, greater numbers of people in education, more industries and/or greater efficiency in existing industries, more and better quality food and a generally higher quality of life. Biotechnology alone cannot solve these problems; their solution also needs a political system and a leadership aware of, and committed to, achieving the changes necessary for development. Nevertheless, modern biotechnology can contribute significantly to improving the quality of life in the region. A few of the specific areas in which modern biotechnology can contribute rapidly to development are discussed below.
Agriculture Modifying Plant Products Many tropical pulses indigenous to sub-Saharan region (e.g. cowpea, Vignasinensis)are deficient in the sulphur-containing amino acids, methionine and cysteine. If the genes coding for these could be isolated they could be inserted into these crops to increase their nutritive qualifies.
Drought-resistant Crop Strains Desertification and drought are two major problems limiting the availability of food in the region. Modern biotechnological methods could be used to create crops more resistant to these stresses.
Alteration in the Enzyme Content of Cereals Tropical cereals such as maize, rice and sorghum, are not as suitable for the brewing of beer as barley because the latter contains more amylases. If amylases could be engineered into the cereals, millions of dollars currently spent in importing barley into the region from temperate countries could be channelled into other pressing areas.
Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation by Tropical Crops If N 2- fixing bacteria could be engineered into tropical cereals and other crops, their yields would increase without the need for the current heavy expenditure on fertilizer importation. The sustainability of the environment would also be improved as the pollution of ground water following high fertilizer use would be avoided.
Crop Protection by Engineering Toxins into Crops The toxins which are active in entomopathogenic bacteria could be engineered into crops, thereby saving expenditure on pesticides.
Health Vaccines More potent vaccines targeted more directly on the diseases endemic in sub-Saharan Africa might be produced through modem biotechnology.
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Agro-processing Industries Modifying the Properties of Organisms involved in Food Processing Many foods in the region are fermented and lactic acid bacteria play an important role in the process. Through genetic engineering other properties might be introduced into the bacteria, such as the ability to produce the enzyme linamarase which will hydrolyse the toxic cyanogenic glucoside found in cassava. More acceptable flavours can also be achieved by genetically engineering lactic acid bacteria (Nartey 1977; Okafor & Ejiofor 1990).
The Status of Biotechnology as Practised in Sub-Saharan Africa Two recent publications give a poor picture of the number and distribution of workers, as well as the direction of work, in modem biotechnology in the region: BiotechnologyWorldwide, published by the International Scientific Committee for Biotechnology (COBIOTECH) of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) (Coombs & Campbell 1991) and the
Directory of Biotechnology Scientists in Sub-Saharan Africa, which was commissioned by the African Biosciences Network based in Dakar, Senegal, and sponsored by UNESCO (Okonkwo 1991). Although there are some gaps in the coverage of these publications, the following conclusions can be drawn with respect to the status of biotechnology in subSaharan Africa: (1) The number of people trained in the broad field of biotechnology in sub-Saharan Africa is small. Only 106 were recorded in the directory. Even if this represented only 10% of the biotechnologists present, 1000 is still too small a number to provide the critical mass of scientists needed to harness biotechnology for rapid development. In the area of modern biotechnology, there are even fewer trained individuals. For instance, Nigeria with its population of about 90 million, only has about 10 scientists trained in gene cloning. This is less than the number to be found in an average-sized institute devoted to gene cloning in the USA. (2) There is comparatively little work on modem biotechnology as defined in this paper. Only three establishments would appear to be seriously involved in modern biotechnology: the International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), Nairobi, Kenya; the Department of Biological Sciences, University of Zimbabwe, Harare; and the National Institute for Medical Research, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria. In Nigeria, the Universities of Nigeria (Nsukka), Benin, Lagos and Awka, (Nnamdi Azikiwe), have some capability in this area. The work going on in this area is, however, yet to make an impact internationally. No report of sub-
Biotechnology in Sub-Saharan Africa
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
Saharan African work on genetic engineering or biotechnology has yet been recorded in Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Monitor, an abstracting publication produced by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIIX)). This organization, as will be seen later, has a special interest in promoting modern biotechnology in developing countries. According to the directory, more work is in progress in plant biotechnology than in microbial or animal biotechnology. It is possible that this is the result of reporting bias, since the special interest of the compiler of the directory is in plant biotechnology. In spite of this possibility, this is an encouraging position because of the important role plant biotechnology can play in agriculture, which occupies a key position in the economy of the region. Work going on in microbial biotechnology is mostly of the 'classical' type and involves enumerating the organisms associated with local fermented foods and alcoholic beverages. There seems to be little or no work that will lead to the microbial exploitation of Africa's vast range of agricultural produce or the wastes derived from it, e.g. on the production of value-added goods such as the ethanol, lysine, citric acid and glutamic acid presently imported for use in various industries. One major constraint to work in modern biotechnology in Africa is lack of equipment. Existing establishments are very short of equipment and consumables. This complaint was common to all the countries studied in the directory. Owing to the paucity of personnel trained in modem biotechnology in Africa, the continent is being left behind by the rest of the world in the exploitation of biotechnology. If modern biotechnology is to contribute to sustainable development in Africa, massive training of young scientists from the region must be undertaken urgently.
Conclusions Some measure of sustainable development could be achieved in sub-Saharan Africa if the region fully exploits the existing pool of the world's modem biotechnological knowledge. This cannot be achieved unless a massive training programme to produce the requisite manpower is undertaken. Unfortunately, many countries in the region do not have the resources to train the necessary personnel or to equip the laboratories they would need once personnel were trained. Many United Nations bodies, including UNESCO, FAO, UNDP, and UNEP, and the World Bank, are contributing to solving this problem. Special mention must, however, be made of UNIDO, which has nurtured the InternationalCentre
for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB). This Centre has its headquarters in Trieste, Italy, and a branch in New Delhi, India. The Centre undertakes the training of young scientists from developing countries in modem biotechnology techniques. However, only countries affiliated to it may benefit from its services. The latest information from UNIDO shows that there are 43 affiliate centres, of which only six are from sub-Saharan Africa: Congo, Mauritius, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan and Zaire. Since the Centre deals with the entire range of the world's developing countries, Africa will not be able to use its facilities to train a large number of scientists quickly and so enable biotechnology to make a rapid contribution to the sustainable development of the region, even if all African countries become affiliates. It is clear that more African countries do need to become affiliates, at least in the short term. In the long run, however, there is a need for African countries to consider establishing their own Centre, preferably in a joint effort by several countries or by the Organization of African Unity. After all, the European Economic Community, in spite of its enormous wealth and the advanced biotechnological competence of its individual members, still runs its own joint Centre, the European Molecular Biology Organization. If Africa misses the chance to join the rest of the world now in the exploitation of modem biotechnology, especially the powerful tool of genetic engineering, it may later find itself much handicapped. Sub-Saharan Africa must urgently train manpower to enable it to gain access to world's pool of knowledge in this field and contribute to its own sustainable development; a sufficiently large indigenous scientific corps is urgently required. Because of the urgency of the matter, where non-governmental biotechnological organizations exist in Africa, their services should also be used.
References Anon. 1987 Our Common Future. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Anon. 1989 Sub-Saharan Africa:from Crisis to Sustainable Development. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Anon. 1990 World Resources 1990-91. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Anon. 1991 Human Development Report 1991. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Anon. 1992a World Development Report 1991. New York: Oxford University Press. Anon. 1992b World Economic Survey 1992. New York: United Nations. Anon. 1992c Human Development Report 1992. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Anon. 1993 Human Development Report 1993. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Coombs, J. & Campbell, P.N. 1991 Biotechnology Worldwide Newbury, UK: CPL Press. Griffin, K. & Knight, J. 1990 Human Development and the International Development Strategy for the 1990s. Basingstoke, UK: Macmillan.
World Journal of Microbiology & Biotechnology, "col 10, 1994
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N. Okafor Nartey, F. 1977 Manihot esculenta Crantz. Copenhagen: Munksgaard. Nicolaisen, J., Dean, A. & HoeUer, P. 1991 Economics and the Environment: a Survey of Issues and Policy Options. OECD Economic Studies No. 16. Paris: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Okafor, N. & Ejiofor, A.O. 1990 Rapid detoxification of cassava mash fermenting for garri production following inoculation with a yeast simultaneously producing linamarase and amylase. Process Biochemistry 25, 82-86. Okonkwo, S.N.C. 1991 Directory of Biotechnology Scientists in Sub-Saharan Africa. Dakar: African Biosciences Network. Redclift, M. 1987 Sustainable Development: Exploring the Contradictions. London: Methuen.
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Ruttan, V.W. 1988 Sustainability is not enough: American Journal of Alternative Agriculture 3, 128--130. Sen, A. 1990 Development as capacity expansion. In Human
Development and the International Development Strategy for the 1990s, eds Griffin, K. & Knight, J. pp. 41-58. N e w York: Macmillan, in association with the United Nations. Smith, N.J.H. 1990 Strategies for sustainable agriculture in the tropics. Ecological Economics 2, 311-323. ThirlwaU, A.P. 1983 Growth and Development, 3rd edn. London: Macmillan.
(Received in revised form 10 December 1993; accepted 15 December 1993)
Review
Biotechnology and sustainable development in Sub-Saharan Africa N. Okafor Whether development is defined by the long-standing economic parameter of per capita gross national product (GNP) or by the newly introduced Human Development Index (HDI), which is not based exclusively on per capita GNP, the countries of sub-Saharan Africa rank at or near the bottom of the developing world. Agriculture and agro-based processing are the mainstays of the economies of the majority of these countries. Because of this, and also because many of the diseases endemic in these countries are communicable, the application of modern biotechnology (including genetic engineering, tissue culture and monoclonal antibody technology) and related biotechnologies could play an important part in creating sustainable development in the region. There is, therefore, an urgent need to train more of the region's indigenous citizens, and to equip more laboratories, in modern biotechnology. It is suggested that, in order to accelerate the harnessing of the fruits of biotechnology, more countries in the region should affiliate with the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB). It is further suggested that a regional equivalent of the ICGEB be built and the services of nongovernmental biotechnology organizations used.
Key words: Biotechnology, development, genetic engineering, sub-Saharan Africa, sustainable.
In this review, in order to place biotechnology's possible role in the development of sub-Saharan Africa in a proper perspective, the meaning of the word 'development' and the parameters for its measurement, will be examined. Sub-Saharan Africa's ranking among developing countries will be discussed using these parameters. The possible role of biotechnology in the development of the region, the constraints on this role, and suggestions for dealing with the constraints are considered.
The Concept of 'Development' In the abstract sense, every country or society is developing. This is because every country has before it an ideal state of well-being for its citizens, conceived by itself, even if not properly articulated, which depends on its history, natural (biological and mineral) resources, population size, the education of its citizens and its ability to gain access to the pool of the world's technological knowledge or to contribute to that pool. This optimal state of well-being is, however, a Utopian and unattainable ideal. Its unattainability is partly due to the The author is with Nnarndi Azikiwe University, P. M. B. 5025, Awka, Nigeria. Address correspondence to P. M. B. 1457, Enugu, Nigeria; fax: +234-42332059.
imperfections of human capabilities and partly because the ideal itself is constantly changing as the country or society is exposed to new ideas. No two countries have identical Utopias. 'Development', therefore, may be taken as change in a society or country within a given time, leading to progress towards the ideal state of well-being conceived by that society or country for itself. In the view of this author, the most important element in the potential of a country or society to achieve development is that country's ability to gain access to the pool of the world's technology. Such access, which will enable the country to exploit its natural resources for the benefit of its people, is largely dependent on the availability of indigenous manpower adequately trained in those aspects of science and technology relevant to the development of the
country.
The Indicators of Development and the Geographical Grouping of Developing Countries Although all countries and societies may, in the abstract sense, be developing, in practice the assessment of development is
© 1994 Rapid Communications of Oxford Ltd
World Journal of Microbiology & Biotechnology, Vo110, 1994
243
N. Okafor usually based on the wealth of a country as determined by the per capita Gross National Product (per capita GNP). The GNP itself is the sum of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP; which is the total value of goods and services generated from agriculture, industries and services), and earnings from abroad in the forms of overseas worker remittances, interest on loans and similar earnings. On the basis of their per capita GNP, the World Bank has classified countries of the world into low income (less than US $640 per capita per year), middle income (less than US $6000 but more than $640), and high income (more than US $6000) countries. Developing countries are to be found mainly in the low bracket, while the economically developed countries are found exclusively in the high income group (Anon. 1989, 1990, 1992 a,b).
The Economic Indicators of Sub-Saharan Africa The most striking feature of the countries of sub-Saharan Africa is their economic poverty. Among the countries of the world, they are at the bottom or close to the bottom of the table in all the parameters by which development is measured,
including per capita GNP, life expectancy, percentage engaged in full-time secondary education, number of physicians per capita and daily calorie intake. In terms of population growth, the region has the highest rate, 3.3%, a factor which contributes to its continued poverty (Anon. 1989, 1992 a,b). A poignant illustration of the situation is that, whereas subSaharan Africa has a population of 450 million, it has a GDP of about US $135 billion, approximately the same as that of Belgium, which has a population of only 10 million (Anon. 1989). In economically developed countries such as the USA, agriculture provides only a small percentage (< 5%) of the GDP (the goods and services generated from agriculture, industry, and services) while industry and services provide the bulk. On the other hand, in sub-Saharan African countries (see Table 1), agriculture provides a large part (at least 40%) of the GDP and industry and services contribute smaller percentages when compared with economically developed countries (Anon. 1990). Sub-Saharan countries are also among the most indebted worldwide. Thus 10 of the 45 sub-Saharan countries owe at least US $5 billion each, with Nigeria (US $28 billion), Ivory Coast (US $10 billion) and Zaire (US $8 billion) topping the list. For many countries of the region, long-term debt amounts to
Table 1. Bealc economic indicators of some aub-Saharan and other countries (Anon. 1992). Country/Region
Gross National Product (US S/capita)
Proportion of the Gross Domestic Product (%) from: Agriculture
Industry
Manufacturing
Services
Life expectancy (years)
Selected sub-Saharan countries Tanzania Sierra Leone Nigeria Kenya Malawi Ghana
130 220 250 360 180 390
66 46 31 31 35 49
7 11 44 20 19 17
4 6 10 12 11 10
27 42 25 49 45 34
49 42 51 59 48 55
Selected high-income countries UK USA
14,610 20,910
2 2
37 29
20 17
62 69
76 76
340 540 320 2180
32 24 32 NA
27 44 26 NA
11 33 17 NA
38 34 41 NA
51 68 58 65
1950
16
33
23
51
67
Various regions of the developing world Sub-Sahara East Asia* South Asia+ Europet, Middle East, North Africa and Afghanistan Latin America and the Caribbean
*The low- and middle-income countries of East and South-East Asia and the Pacific East, including Thailand and China. *Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. tCyprus, Greece, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania and the former Yugoslavia. NA--Not available.
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Biotechnology in Sub-Saharan Africa as much as 200% of the GNP and servicing these debts consumes at least 20% of GNP (Anon. 1989, 1990).
A New Alternative to Per Capita GNP as the Index of Development: the Human Development Index (HDI) The use of per capita GNP as the measure of development has been criticized on several grounds. Firstly, wealth, as defined by a high GNP or per capita GNP, does not always go pari passu with the highest quality of life. Thus, in 1985, South Africa bad a much higher GNP per head (US $2010) than Sri Lanka (US $340) but South Africa had a lower life expectancy (55 versus 70 years) (Anon. 1989; Sen 1990.) A second criticism is that the per capita income does not always indicate the ability of a country to exploit its natural resources through the use of mainly indigenous manpower, the availability of which is a key factor in ensuring sustainable development. Furthermore, a high per capita GNP does not necessarily indicate a high level of industrialization in a country. Thus Kuwait in 1979 had a per capita GNP of about US $17,000, larger than those of Switzerland (US $14,000) and the USA (US $10,000) in that year, even though the latter two countries had greater indigenous access to technology and were therefore more industrialized (Griffin & Knight 1990). A third criticism is that per capita GNP does not take into the account inequality in income distribution within the country (Thirwall 1983). Finally, per capita GNP does not recognize subsistence activities which, in developing (middle and low income) countries, are very important. These include the contributions of small-scale farmers, housewives and similar individuals (Thirwall 1983). These and other difficulties in defining a proper index for development have, in recent times, led to the evolution of other ideas which do not focus exdusively on per capita GNP, such as the Human Development Index (HDI). Although the ideas inherent in the HDI approach have been gestating for some time, they have been clarified and ordered by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Commission, under M. U1 Haq, former Foreign Minister of Pakistan, in its first publication: Human Development Report, 1991 (Anon. 1991). HDI focuses not on per capita GNP, and the other indicators of economic activity, but on the people on whose activities development depends. Thus the new system is based on the basic indicators of human well-being: life expectancy, adult literacy, mean years of education, and the possibility of a decent standard of living. Being new, the HDI method of evaluating development is still being refined but even on the basis of this new method, sub-Saharan Africa still lags behind other developing regions. For instance, in 1992 and 1993, no sub-Saharan African country came within the first 15 places in terms of HDI, while the last 20 places were occupied by Bhutan, Afghanistan and 18 sub-Saharan countries (Anon. 1992c, 1993).
The Concept of 'Sustainable Development' The concept of sustainability is not new and has its roots in the early recognition that economic growth was limited by the exhaustibility of natural resources. Malthus speculated that population would be limited by lack of food, while Riccardo speculated on the exhaustibility of land (Redclift 1987; Nicolaisen et al. 1991). The idea of sustainability is easy to grasp when agriculture is considered and the literature on this topic is vast. In sustainable agricultural systems the technologies used to increase crop and livestock yields do not undermine the productivity of the natural resource base. Hence the current user of a facility satisfies his need without jeopardizing the chances of future users of the same facility from satisfying their own requirements (Ruttan 1988; Smith 1990). The issue of sustainability in development was examined more broadly by the World Commission on Environment and Development, set up by the United Nations under the leadership of G. Harlem Brundtland, then Prime Minister of Norway. Their report, entitled Our Common Future (Anon. 1987), defines sustainable development as a 'process of change in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of technological development, and institutional change are all in harmony, and enhance both current and future potential to meet human needs and aspirations'. As emphasized in Human Development Report, 1991, for development to be sustainable, each generation must meet its current needs without incurring debts it cannot repay and without compromising the lives of future generations (Anon. 1991).
The Nature of Biotechnology In the broadest sense, biotechnology may be defined as the manipulation of biological objects or their products for the production of valuable goods or services. In recent times biotechnology has gained new impetus because of the availability of new techniques, notably recombinant DNA technology, protoplast fusion, plant and animal cell culture, and monodonal antibody technology. In the context of this paper, the term modem biotechnology will be applied whenever any of these techniques is involved.
The Potential Contribution of Modern Biotechnology to the Development of the African Continent As stated above, the economies of most countries in the region are based on agriculture, and where industries exist they are mostly agro-allied. Many of the diseases are communicable and amenable to prophylaxis by vaccination. Development in sub-Saharan Africa would mean changes leading to higher per capita GNP, longer life expectancy, better World Journal of Microbiology & Biotechnology, Vo110, I994
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N. Okafor healthcare delivery, greater numbers of people in education, more industries and/or greater efficiency in existing industries, more and better quality food and a generally higher quality of life. Biotechnology alone cannot solve these problems; their solution also needs a political system and a leadership aware of, and committed to, achieving the changes necessary for development. Nevertheless, modern biotechnology can contribute significantly to improving the quality of life in the region. A few of the specific areas in which modern biotechnology can contribute rapidly to development are discussed below.
Agriculture Modifying Plant Products Many tropical pulses indigenous to sub-Saharan region (e.g. cowpea, Vignasinensis)are deficient in the sulphur-containing amino acids, methionine and cysteine. If the genes coding for these could be isolated they could be inserted into these crops to increase their nutritive qualifies.
Drought-resistant Crop Strains Desertification and drought are two major problems limiting the availability of food in the region. Modern biotechnological methods could be used to create crops more resistant to these stresses.
Alteration in the Enzyme Content of Cereals Tropical cereals such as maize, rice and sorghum, are not as suitable for the brewing of beer as barley because the latter contains more amylases. If amylases could be engineered into the cereals, millions of dollars currently spent in importing barley into the region from temperate countries could be channelled into other pressing areas.
Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation by Tropical Crops If N 2- fixing bacteria could be engineered into tropical cereals and other crops, their yields would increase without the need for the current heavy expenditure on fertilizer importation. The sustainability of the environment would also be improved as the pollution of ground water following high fertilizer use would be avoided.
Crop Protection by Engineering Toxins into Crops The toxins which are active in entomopathogenic bacteria could be engineered into crops, thereby saving expenditure on pesticides.
Health Vaccines More potent vaccines targeted more directly on the diseases endemic in sub-Saharan Africa might be produced through modem biotechnology.
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Agro-processing Industries Modifying the Properties of Organisms involved in Food Processing Many foods in the region are fermented and lactic acid bacteria play an important role in the process. Through genetic engineering other properties might be introduced into the bacteria, such as the ability to produce the enzyme linamarase which will hydrolyse the toxic cyanogenic glucoside found in cassava. More acceptable flavours can also be achieved by genetically engineering lactic acid bacteria (Nartey 1977; Okafor & Ejiofor 1990).
The Status of Biotechnology as Practised in Sub-Saharan Africa Two recent publications give a poor picture of the number and distribution of workers, as well as the direction of work, in modem biotechnology in the region: BiotechnologyWorldwide, published by the International Scientific Committee for Biotechnology (COBIOTECH) of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) (Coombs & Campbell 1991) and the
Directory of Biotechnology Scientists in Sub-Saharan Africa, which was commissioned by the African Biosciences Network based in Dakar, Senegal, and sponsored by UNESCO (Okonkwo 1991). Although there are some gaps in the coverage of these publications, the following conclusions can be drawn with respect to the status of biotechnology in subSaharan Africa: (1) The number of people trained in the broad field of biotechnology in sub-Saharan Africa is small. Only 106 were recorded in the directory. Even if this represented only 10% of the biotechnologists present, 1000 is still too small a number to provide the critical mass of scientists needed to harness biotechnology for rapid development. In the area of modern biotechnology, there are even fewer trained individuals. For instance, Nigeria with its population of about 90 million, only has about 10 scientists trained in gene cloning. This is less than the number to be found in an average-sized institute devoted to gene cloning in the USA. (2) There is comparatively little work on modem biotechnology as defined in this paper. Only three establishments would appear to be seriously involved in modern biotechnology: the International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), Nairobi, Kenya; the Department of Biological Sciences, University of Zimbabwe, Harare; and the National Institute for Medical Research, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria. In Nigeria, the Universities of Nigeria (Nsukka), Benin, Lagos and Awka, (Nnamdi Azikiwe), have some capability in this area. The work going on in this area is, however, yet to make an impact internationally. No report of sub-
Biotechnology in Sub-Saharan Africa
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
Saharan African work on genetic engineering or biotechnology has yet been recorded in Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Monitor, an abstracting publication produced by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIIX)). This organization, as will be seen later, has a special interest in promoting modern biotechnology in developing countries. According to the directory, more work is in progress in plant biotechnology than in microbial or animal biotechnology. It is possible that this is the result of reporting bias, since the special interest of the compiler of the directory is in plant biotechnology. In spite of this possibility, this is an encouraging position because of the important role plant biotechnology can play in agriculture, which occupies a key position in the economy of the region. Work going on in microbial biotechnology is mostly of the 'classical' type and involves enumerating the organisms associated with local fermented foods and alcoholic beverages. There seems to be little or no work that will lead to the microbial exploitation of Africa's vast range of agricultural produce or the wastes derived from it, e.g. on the production of value-added goods such as the ethanol, lysine, citric acid and glutamic acid presently imported for use in various industries. One major constraint to work in modern biotechnology in Africa is lack of equipment. Existing establishments are very short of equipment and consumables. This complaint was common to all the countries studied in the directory. Owing to the paucity of personnel trained in modem biotechnology in Africa, the continent is being left behind by the rest of the world in the exploitation of biotechnology. If modern biotechnology is to contribute to sustainable development in Africa, massive training of young scientists from the region must be undertaken urgently.
Conclusions Some measure of sustainable development could be achieved in sub-Saharan Africa if the region fully exploits the existing pool of the world's modem biotechnological knowledge. This cannot be achieved unless a massive training programme to produce the requisite manpower is undertaken. Unfortunately, many countries in the region do not have the resources to train the necessary personnel or to equip the laboratories they would need once personnel were trained. Many United Nations bodies, including UNESCO, FAO, UNDP, and UNEP, and the World Bank, are contributing to solving this problem. Special mention must, however, be made of UNIDO, which has nurtured the InternationalCentre
for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB). This Centre has its headquarters in Trieste, Italy, and a branch in New Delhi, India. The Centre undertakes the training of young scientists from developing countries in modem biotechnology techniques. However, only countries affiliated to it may benefit from its services. The latest information from UNIDO shows that there are 43 affiliate centres, of which only six are from sub-Saharan Africa: Congo, Mauritius, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan and Zaire. Since the Centre deals with the entire range of the world's developing countries, Africa will not be able to use its facilities to train a large number of scientists quickly and so enable biotechnology to make a rapid contribution to the sustainable development of the region, even if all African countries become affiliates. It is clear that more African countries do need to become affiliates, at least in the short term. In the long run, however, there is a need for African countries to consider establishing their own Centre, preferably in a joint effort by several countries or by the Organization of African Unity. After all, the European Economic Community, in spite of its enormous wealth and the advanced biotechnological competence of its individual members, still runs its own joint Centre, the European Molecular Biology Organization. If Africa misses the chance to join the rest of the world now in the exploitation of modem biotechnology, especially the powerful tool of genetic engineering, it may later find itself much handicapped. Sub-Saharan Africa must urgently train manpower to enable it to gain access to world's pool of knowledge in this field and contribute to its own sustainable development; a sufficiently large indigenous scientific corps is urgently required. Because of the urgency of the matter, where non-governmental biotechnological organizations exist in Africa, their services should also be used.
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N. Okafor Nartey, F. 1977 Manihot esculenta Crantz. Copenhagen: Munksgaard. Nicolaisen, J., Dean, A. & HoeUer, P. 1991 Economics and the Environment: a Survey of Issues and Policy Options. OECD Economic Studies No. 16. Paris: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Okafor, N. & Ejiofor, A.O. 1990 Rapid detoxification of cassava mash fermenting for garri production following inoculation with a yeast simultaneously producing linamarase and amylase. Process Biochemistry 25, 82-86. Okonkwo, S.N.C. 1991 Directory of Biotechnology Scientists in Sub-Saharan Africa. Dakar: African Biosciences Network. Redclift, M. 1987 Sustainable Development: Exploring the Contradictions. London: Methuen.
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(Received in revised form 10 December 1993; accepted 15 December 1993)
