| Description: The USAID-funded Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project (ABSP), which was launched in
1991 and ended in June 2003, set out with a vision of developing and making transgenic crops
available to developing country partners. At the time the project was initiated, no transgenic crop
had yet been commercially released anywhere in the world.
ABSP was a pioneering project which has provided a wealth of lessons. Many of the difficulties
encountered by ABSP are currently shared by other publicly-funded programs and projects aimed
at the development and transfer of biotechnology in developing country agriculture. The essential
purpose of this study is to analyse the ABSP and other experiences, to highlight the challenges to
be addressed, and to propose new approaches to project design, management and implementation.
(It does not take into account developments which have occurred under the follow-up projects
ABSPII and The Commercialisation of Bt Potatoes in South Africa.) |
