The African Union (AU) and the New Partnership for Africas Development (Nepad) have been holding meetings to explore how biotechnology can contribute to Africas development.

The latest of these meetings took place in Kenya last week. Participants, who included experts in biotechnology and policy makers from all over Africa, produced a draft report, which tacitly acknowledges the importance of biotechnology in sustainable development.

Entitled, Freedom to Innovate: Biotechnology in Africas Development (PDF file), the report is a major milestone in the debate about modern biotechnology. It will go a long way in galvanizing support towards biotechnology in the entire African continent. The report will be submitted to the annual summit of African heads of state in January 2007. This is a good opportunity to give the report more weight.

African leaders must adopt this report and then ensure its implementation as a matter of urgency. Africa urgently needs biotechnology.

The continent is yet to reap the fruits of modern biotechnology mainly due to petty politics. There are those who have made a career from trumpeting lies about modern biotechnology and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in particular. Some wrongly claim that multinational biotech companies seek to use GMOs to dominate Africas agriculture. And one is tempted to ask, why hasnt this happened in Asia, Latin America and Europe where GMOs are readily grown?

Those opposed to biotechnology need to be reminded that the panel that produced this latest report on the potential of biotechnology in Africas growth comprised of both proponents and opponents of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs).

Dr. Tewolde Egziabher, the director-general of Ethiopias Environmental Protection Authority (EEPA) and a lead author of this report, for example, is a well-known critic of GMOs. But he seems to concur with such advocates of biotechnology as Prof. Calestous Juma, and Dr. Florence Wambugu of Africa Harvest Biotech Foundation International (AHBFI) that Africa will ignore biotechnology at its own peril. This attests to the fact that there is growing consensus on GMOs.

Perhaps, Africa must heed the words of Prof. Juma who repeatedly says that people who say biotechnology is being forced on Africa have a limited view of what is taking place in the biotech industry.