ISAAA Repositions to Meet Pressing Challenges

The International Service for the Acquisition of Agribiotech Applications (ISAAA), hosted by Cornell University since 1992, is repositioning itself as part of the BioTrust Consortium starting on January 1, 2022.

The BioTrust Consortium will be composed of the newly-constituted ISAAA AfriCenter, ISAAA SEAsiaCenter, and the Malaysian Biotechnology Information Center (MABIC). New members will be welcomed in to synergize efforts aimed at achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and beyond.

Dr. Mahaletchumy Arujanan will be the inaugural Global Coordinator of BioTrust and will be based out of the MABIC in Malaysia through a collaboration with Monash University Malaysia.  The new ISAAA AfriCenter is now an independent entity with its own governing board, chaired by Dr. Robert Karanja of Villgro Africa, with Dr. Margaret Karembu as Director. The new ISAAA SEAsiaCenter will likewise function as an independent entity governed by the non-profit ISAAA Inc. organization in the Philippines with Prof. Paul Teng, Singapore as the Chair of the Board and Dr. Rhodora Romero-Aldemita as the Executive Director. ISAAA’s key asset, the Global Knowledge Center on Crop Biotechnology, now termed as the ISAAA/BioTrust Global Knowledge Center on Biotechnology will continue to operate out of the ISAAA SEAsiaCenter based at the IRRI headquarters in Los Banos, Laguna, Philippines.

ISAAA has been active in the global agri-biotech scene for nearly thirty years, most of them under the leadership of our Founding Chair, Dr. Clive James.  ISAAA has come a long way since the mid-1990s from a technology broker to sharing knowledge and capacity building in our quest to ensure agribiotechnology is made accessible to developing countries.

With an outstanding record of achievements during its 29 years of operation, ISAAA has built up the only global network of like-minded organizations and individuals dedicated to using science and technology in support of development goals.

ISAAA has always been at the forefront of sharing knowledge and technology to ensure that farmers benefit from biotechnology.  Its capacity building programs on biosafety and science communication are strongly based on science to increase approval, adoption, political will, and public acceptance of biotech (GM) crops.

The annual ISAAA Brief on the Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops is eagerly awaited each year and has remained the most authoritative source of credible information on the topic.  ISAAA has been very farmer-centric in its initiatives, considering the smallholder farmers as its ultimate beneficiaries. ISAAA is the pioneer in these areas with a strong reputation and relationships which have been built on trust among stakeholders over decades.

Compared to ISAAA’s early years of inception, the landscape of biotechnology and agriculture has changed tremendously, resulting in an urgent need for ISAAA to rebrand and reposition itself. After nearly thirty years, ISAAA has come to the stage that requires it to revamp its scope and strategies to adapt to changes in these unprecedented times and in the transformed operating landscape of new technologies, new regulations, and new consumer expectations.

There are now more concerned organizations and individuals in the international development space. Issues of renewed importance have become more inter-linked, such as climate change, reduced production and productivity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, social equity, and the changing diets of consumers.  Innovative technologies arising from gene editing and fermentation biotechnology are attracting the interest of investors, regulators and consumers.  Novel food products are being advocated as solutions to the current weaknesses in food systems, and the list goes on.

The outgoing ISAAA Board of Directors is proud to announce that as a new BioTrust entity, ISAAA will be taken to new heights and repositioned to be a valued contributor to global development, working with its past and new partners.

BioTrust will build on ISAAA’s strengths and accomplishments and move its knowledge sharing activities beyond crop biotechnology. The expanded scope is to further support sustainable food production (especially by smallholder farmers) and sustainable economic growth (especially in the livelihoods of small farms and poor urban consumers) with equity and gender responsiveness.

BioTrust’s new scope will include both technologies and their products, exemplified by the new breeding technologies, precision fermentation, and novel future foods, and will reach beyond crops to livestock, poultry, aquaculture, and microbes.

BioTrust recognizes that there is increased politicization of science and skepticism of emerging sciences, especially in the areas of biosciences. Putting science at the forefront to influence policy actions, governance decisions and public behavior is important to allow science to achieve our sustainable goals. BioTrust will focus on taking science out of the current crisis of trust by providing transparency and creating a new equation between the scientists, the industry, and the consumers.

We hope our current partners will continue to support us and join us in this promising endeavor to take ISAAA to the next level through the BioTrust Consortium.

For more information, please contact Dr. Mahaletchumy Arujanan, Global Coordinator, ISAAA/BioTrust through email maha@bic.org.my or via phone no. +60-3-55146174.

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