The  Supervisor at Centre  of Excellence in STI, African Union Development Agency (AUDA –NEPAD),  Prof Olalekan Akinbo, has called on Nigeria and other African countries to take advantage of innovation in order to improve livelihoods of citizens.
Akinbo made the call while responding to questions on genome editing technology  from The Tide source in Abuja, recently.
“Since Africa is naturally agrarian, the opportunity this technology offers should be utilised. This is by adding value to the available rich natural resources through innovation, in order to improve the livelihood of the citizenries”, he said.
Akinbo stated that many African governments have strong policies for innovation as a milestone that would improve the economy and create enabling environment to support innovative ideas.
“I’m talking about innovation in technology, agriculture, petrochemical, among others, because innovation is the pathway that many African countries have now taken in trying to improve the lives of citizens.
“A case in point are countries that have established ministries and  parastatals that focus specifically on innovation, and some of these ministries have added innovation to the name of the ministry.
“That shows government’s commitment to innovation and in most of the AU decision process, there have been decisions that support innovations for the improvement of livelihoods”, he said.
According to him, Government has been making efforts to ensure that they are part of the agenda, by  creating enabling environments to enhance innovation.
“Nigeria is an example, Nigeria is a leader and we witnessed how the Ministry of Science and Technology was changed to Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, indicating that the government supports innovation.
“There are also many start-ups in Nigeria these days and Nigeria is actually a leader in so many things in Africa, especially in the area of innovation and creating enabling environment”, he  said.
He also noted that, out of the 55 member states in Africa, South Africa has taken advantage of innovative way of breeding plants.
Akinbo listed other countries that have also moved in this direction to include: Ethiopia, Malawi and Eswatini, all of which have adopted biotechnology crops.

He said Kenya has not only adopted biotechnology crops, but went further to establish a research institutes that focuses on biotechnology.

The AU Official  further informed that  Nigeria has adopted two biotechnology crops, both for feed and food while others were in the pipeline.

“Looking at this, for a government to have approved these biotech crops is indicative of its willingness and even establishing an agency that sees to the safety”, he said.

He said Nigeria’s National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) was also responsible for the approval of biotechnology related products.

Akonbo said Africa, especially Nigeria, has given a supportive role to the improvement of biotechnology adoption which would also influence the pathway genome editing technology would go.

The expert said genome editing was an emerging technology with an innovation that would help in various areas of improvements.

They include: agriculture, climate change, and health, with all geared towards improving livelihoods.

“There is always a phobia surrounding the emergence of a new technology and that the area people seem to be skeptical of is safety.That something is new doesn’t mean it is not safe”,  he said.

According to Akonbo, some food crops that people initially thought to be unsafe are now being used by them.

He said cassava, which has become a staple food in numerous homes in Nigeria, contains cyanide acid, adding, “but, due to its importance, scientists were able to manage this acid through processing for safety.

“Though nothing is safe as people are  bound to be skeptical, genome editing, which is yet to produce a product in Africa, does not include any external introduction”.

Akinbo assured that the technology of genome editing make use of information stored in the DNA to improve on its usage.

“So, from the scientific point of view, genome editing is safer compared to other imagined technology that had been in existence”, he stated.

Akinbo,  however, revealed that apart from Nigeria that had already developed the guidelines for the adoption of genome editing, Ethiopia has also done so, and others were either at the drafting or signing stages.