Abstract
In 2009, the first year of commercial production of Bt cotton in Burkina Faso, producers planted 129,000 ha, making this the largest introduction of biotechnology on the African continent. The plantation area doubled in 2010 (256,000 ha), but decreased in 2011 (251,580 ha). In 2012, the area of Bt cotton cultivated increased to 300,000 ha. The speeding-up of agricultural biotechnology development in the country is not only due to the political will of authorities, but also because of the determination of stakeholders including scientists, producers, and cotton companies in biotechnology adoption. Therefore, the country’s experience provides an excellent example of the processes and procedures which must be gone through for a biotechnology product to be successfully introduced into a develo** country where agriculture is a crucial contributor to the gross domestic product (GDP).
The Institute of Environment and Agricultural Research (INERA) and Monsanto conducted controlled experiments with insect-resistant Bt cotton from 2003 to 2006. Success obtained during this seed development program led to evaluating Bt cotton for insect-resistance on a larger scale by commercial farmers in 2007; Bt cotton was commercially released in 2008. Meanwhile, the national rules for safety in biotechnology were adopted in June 2004, and the National Biosafety Agency (NBA) established in 2005. The law on biosafety was passed by the Parliament on March 2006 and promulgated on April 2006. Neighboring countries, especially Benin, Chad, and Mali, would benefit from Burkina Faso’s experience, being next in line to introduce Bt cotton.
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Notes
- 1.
F CFA states for: Franc of the African Financial Community, a currency in 8 West Africa francophone countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Sénégal, Togo).
Abbreviations
- AAB:
-
African Agency of Biotechnology
- AATF:
-
African Agricultural Technology Foundation
- ABNE–NEPAD:
-
African Biosafety Network of Expertise – New Partnership for Africa’s Development
- AIC-B:
-
Inter-professional Cotton Association of Burkina
- ANVAR:
-
National Agency for the Valorization of Research Results (Burkina Faso)
- ARC:
-
Support to Research on Cotton
- ATC:
-
Cotton technical agent
- BBA:
-
Burkina Biotech Association
- Bt:
-
Bacillus thuringiensis
- CBD:
-
Convention on Biological Diversity
- CC:
-
Cotton correspondent
- CCPs:
-
Critical control points
- CFDT:
-
Company for the Development of Textile Fibers
- CIRAD:
-
International Center in Agricultural Research for Development
- CIRDES:
-
International Centre for Research and Development of the Livestock in Sub-humid Zones
- CNRST:
-
National Centre for Scientific and Technological Research (Burkina Faso)
- CNSB:
-
National Scientific Committee of Biosafety (Burkina Faso)
- CORAF/WECARD:
-
West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development
- CSIB:
-
Internal Scientific Committee of Biosafety (Burkina Faso)
- Dagris:
-
Development of South Agro-Industries
- ECOWAS:
-
Economic Community Of West African States
- FAO:
-
Food and Agricultural Organization
- FARA-SABIMA:
-
Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa – Strengthening Capacity for Safe Biotechnology Management in Sub-Saharan Africa
- GDP:
-
Gross domestic product
- GMO:
-
Genetically modified organism
- GPCs:
-
Groups of cotton producers
- IFPRI:
-
International Food Policy Research Institute
- INERA:
-
Institut de l’Environnement et de Recherches Agricoles (Institute of Environment and Agricultural Research) (Burkina Faso)
- INSD:
-
L’Institut National de la Statistique et de la Démographie
- IPS:
-
Industrial Promotion Services
- IRCT:
-
Institute for Research on Cotton and exotic Textiles
- ISAAA:
-
International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications
- LMOs:
-
Living modified organisms
- MAHRH:
-
Ministère de l’Agriculture, des Ressources Hydrauliques et de la Pêche
- NBA:
-
National Biosafety Agency (Burkina Faso)
- NBC:
-
National Biosafety Committee (Burkina Faso)
- ONB:
-
National Observatory for Biosafety (Burkina Faso)
- PPP:
-
Public/private partnership
- RECOAB:
-
West African Network of Communicators in Biotechnology
- SOP:
-
Standard operating procedure
- SSA:
-
Sub-Saharan Africa
- UD:
-
Departmental union
- UEMOA:
-
West African Monetary and Economic Union
- UNEP–GEF:
-
United Nations Environment Program project–Global Environment Facility
- UNPCB:
-
National Union of Cotton Producers (Burkina Faso)
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Acknowledgments
The Government of Burkina Faso, which allowed all the processes including special authorization to import and experiment with transgenic cotton; CNRST and INERA; the Burkina Faso cotton industry, and Monsanto, for financial support for the experiments. Thanks to Dr. Roger Zangré, Pr. Alassane Séré, and all other members of the cotton research team of INERA (Dr. Déhou Dakuo, Dr. Doulaye Traoré, Dr. Oula Traoré, Mr. Denys Sanfo, Dr. Bazoumana Koulibaly, Mr. Gaspard Vognan, Mr. Hughes Somé), and all the technical and administrative staff for providing information. Africa Harvest and the Rockefeller Foundation for organizing the Bellagio writing retreat.
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Traoré, H., Héma, S.A.O., Traoré, K. (2014). Bt Cotton in Burkina Faso Demonstrates That Political Will Is Key for Biotechnology to Benefit Commercial Agriculture in Africa. In: Wambugu, F., Kamanga, D. (eds) Biotechnology in Africa. Science Policy Reports, vol 7. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04001-1_2
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