Publications:
ISAAA Briefs
No.
19 - 2000
An
Overview of ISAAA from 1999 to 2000 |
Anatole
F. Krattiger
Executive Director, ISAAA
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Published
by: |
The
International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications
(ISAAA). Ithaca, New York |
Copyright: |
(2000)
International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications
(ISAAA) |
|
Reproduction
of this publication for educational or other noncommercial purposes
is authorized without prior permission from the copyright holder,
provided the source is properly acknowledged. |
|
Reproduction
for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without
the prior written permission from the copyright holder. |
Correct
Citation: |
Krattiger,
A.F. 2000. An Overview of ISAAA from 1992 to 2000. ISAAA Briefs
No. 19. ISAAA: Ithaca, NY. 24 pp. |
ISBN: |
1-892456-23-0 |
Publication
Orders: |
Please
contact the ISAAA SEAsiaCenter, write to publications@isaaa.org,
or order online. ISAAA
SEAsiaCenter
c/o IRRI
DAPO Box 7777
Metro Manila, The Philippines |
Contents
Executive
Summary
1.
Rationale of ISAAA's Creation
2.
ISAAA's Establishment and History
2.1
The Inception
2.2
The Three-Year External Review of ISAAA (1992-1994)
2.3
ISAAA from 1995-Present: The Evolving Institutional Structure
3.
ISAAA's Strategy and Programs
3.1
Overview
3.2
Project Strategy
3.3
Project Implementation
3.4
Ensuring Impact
3.5
Project and Program support services
3.5.1
Biosafety and Food Safety
3.5.2
Intellectual Property/Technology Transfer (IP/TT) Initiative
3.5.3
The ISAAA Private Sector Biotechnology Fellowship Program
3.5.4
Global Information Sharing and Food Biotechnology Policy/Public
Acceptance
4.
Challenges and Opportunities
4.1
Past challenges and responses - Comparative advantage of ISAAA
today - Lessons learned
4.1.1
Pioneer role of ISAAA in successful biotechnology transfer
projects
4.1.2
Comparative advantage and interface between public-private
sector
4.1.3
No financial interests in the technology
4.1.4
No ownership of products being transferred
4.1.5
Complementary activities/role to the Consultative Group on
International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
4.2
ISAAA's current effectiveness
4.3
Future challenges and strategic responses
4.3.1
General Challenges
4.3.2
Public Acceptance and the complexity of intellectual property
management
4.3.3
Inefficient seed distribution systems and intellectual property
laws
5.
Conclusions: Turning stumbling blocks into stepping stones
Acknowledgements
References
and List of ISAAA Publications
Executive
Summary
The present
document shares ISAAA's strategy and approaches over the first eight
years of its existence, and details and discusses the strategic responses
the institution has made programmatically and strategically to the
changing environment in which ISAAA has operated.
Challenges
ISAAA
seeks to ensure future food security, bring about a more sustainable
agriculture, and contribute to poverty alleviation through a more
equitable adoption of new agricultural biotechnologies. Response
As a result of the significant changes in international agriculture
that emerged during the 1980's, in particular the advent of biotechnology
and proprietary science, the following responses were taken:
-
Established
a nonprofit broker service to facilitate agri-biotechnology transfer
to developing countries; o Developed a pragmatic program based
on actual transfers and partnerships;
-
Built
on the comparative advantages of the private sector (in the North)
and the public sector (in the South), and encourage South-South
collaboration;
-
Instilled
trust and confidence between the various key players in agri-biotechnology;
-
In
Africa, strengthen programmatic activities initially in one country
(Kenya) and then regionalize activities;
-
In
Southeast Asia, develop activities predominantly through regional
collaboration;
-
In
Latin America, initiate activities in Mexico and Brazil, and in
the future develop an appropriate strategy to assist the region,
particularly IP management services.
Mission
Contribute
to poverty alleviation by improving crop productivity, increasing
income generation, and enhancing environmental security for resource-poor
farmers.
With the
advent of the first products in agriculture stemming from the life
sciences, the potential to improve the human situation is historically
unprecedented. Globalization, despite its many problems, now enables
the mobilization of worldwide science and technology for the betterment
of humankind. However, the promise is ours only if we manage to deploy
improved products to the poor and wealthy alike.
Strategy
Provide
honest broker services to transfer and deliver appropriate biotech
applications through the building of partnerships between institutions
in the South and the private sector in the North and, where possible,
to strengthen South- South collaboration.
The strategy
stakes out concrete, tangible end points to the transfer and delivery
of appropriate biotechnology applications by building partnerships
that capitalize on the comparative advantages of the public and private
sectors to optimally sustain product delivery.
Program
and Services
ISAAA has
been set up to implement projects in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin
America with the singular aim of delivering improved products to poor
farmers (as opposed to research or the generation of knowledge). The
specific services ISAAA offers to achieve these objectives are as follows:
-
Assist developing
countries to identify biotechnology priorities and needs and
to assess potential socio-economic impacts.
-
Monitor in
industrialized countries the availability of proprietary biotechnology
applications and evaluate their appropriateness for transfer.
-
Provide honest
broker services by developing project proposals and implementation
plans, matching the needs of specific countries/institutions
with those who can meet those needs.
-
Mobilize funds
from donor agencies to implement projects.
-
Counsel developing
countries on a range of subjects associated with the deployment
of biotechnology, including biosafety, food safety, intellectual
property rights, plant breeder's rights, managing the deployment
of resistant genes, and assessing socio- economic impacts.
Project
Selection Criteria
The criteria
that ISAAA applies throughout its program can be narrowed down and
illustrated through a dichotomous key, which applies systematic criteria
at each step. |