Biotech Updates

NEPAD's ABNE Organizes African Study Tour to India

February 24, 2016

NEPAD Agency African Biosafety Network of Expertise (ABNE), together with Michigan State University (MSU), the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Bejo Sheetal Biosciences Foundation (BSBF), and South Asia Biotechnology Centre (SABC) in India, has successfully conducted a study tour of New Delhi, Aurangabad/Jalna, and Hyderabad in India on January 17-27, 2016. The study tour was attended by 14 delegates from the following countries in Africa: Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia.

The main objective of the study tour was to share information on biotechnology and biosafety developments in India, especially the regulatory experiences of Bt cotton and other food crops that are in the research and development pipeline. The study tour also aimed at providing opportunities for regulators and policy makers from Africa to interact with their fellow biosafety regulators, policy makers, and industry representatives from India.
 
In a roundtable meeting of the India–Africa collaboration, Professor Karim Maredia of MSU, Dr. Silas Okobusia and Dr. Moussa Savadogo of NEPAD Agency ABNE presented an overview of the agricultural biosafety regulatory regimes in African countries and highlighted areas for partnership with India. For the Indian part, key presentations at various meetings were delivered by the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Climate Change, TIFAC, TERI, SABC, the Indian Council for Food and Agriculture (ICFA), the Institute of Biotechnology (IoB), Directorate of Rice Research (ICAR DRR) and private sector companies including Rasi HyVeg Seeds at New Delhi, BeejSheetal and Mahyco at Jalna, Maharashtra, Advanta Seeds and JK AgriGenetics at Hyderabad.

For more details, read the news release at the NEPAD Agency ABNE website.