Review of the Policy, Regulatory Mechanisms and Administration of Biosafety in Eastern and Southern Africa: A study of Kenya, South Africa, Malawi and the ASARECA initiative
This report summarises the results of a review of the policy, regulatory mechanisms and 
administration of biosafety in Kenya, Malawi and South Africa and under the ASARECA regional 
initiative. The report focuses on the current situation and provides insights as to the form that 
developments in the area of regulation of biotechnology are likely to take. 
The first section is an introduction, which provides the definition and scope of biotechnology as 
used in this report. It provides a brief status of agricultural research; the areas of research and the 
actors involved in biotechnology in the study countries. With the exception of South Africa, 
experimentation in transgenic crops is still under development. Most of the current agricultural 
biotechnology R&D activities focus on improving crop productivity. The actors are mainly National 
Agriculture Research Institutes, International Agricultural Research Centres and universities. 
Private sector involvement is in the form of multinational companies. 
The second section discusses the frameworks for the regulation of biotechnology. These include 
international obligations, regional attempts, as well as national efforts in regulating biotechnology in 
the study countries. Regulation at the national level has been in the form of national policies, 
national strategies and through legislation. In Kenya and in most countries under the ASARECA 
initiative, acts of parliament are yet to be enacted. The proposed bill and regulations in Kenya and 
the proposed regional regulatory structure under ASARECA are discussed with the aim of 
providing an insight as to the trend regulation in these jurisdictions is likely to take. 
The third section is a discussion on institutional arrangements in the field of agricultural 
biotechnology. Who are the institutional actors? What are the synergies? What is the institutional 
capacity in terms of human resources and physical infrastructure? This section also explores the 
commercialisation and innovation attempts in the study countries. It examines public perception 
and acceptance of modern biotechnology and ends with a brief mention on intellectual property 
protection in the study countries. South Africa has a developed institutional structure with 
impressive facilities and adequate human resource capacity. Critical mass in modern biotechnology 
in the other study countries is yet to be attained. Facilities for experimentation in GM technology 
are likewise lacking in Kenya, Malawi and other ASARECA countries. 
The fourth section summarises the review and presents the way forward. South Africa is best 
placed to handle applications for testing transgenics such as the rosette-resistant groundnut 
developed by ICRISAT. A representative from the Malawi biosafety committee should be involved 
in the testing of the groundnuts in RSA as part of a capacity building exercise and also to pave the 
way for the testing of the groundnuts in Malawi. In Kenya, there are indications that once an event 
is approved elsewhere, it is likely to receive timely approval subject to any additional testing that 
the National Biosafety Board may deem necessary. ICRISAT would have to collaborate with the 
KARI Institutional Biosafety Committee through which the application to the National Biosafety 
Committee would be made.
The Development of Biosafety Regulation in Africa in the Context of the Cartagena Protocol: Legal and Administrative Issues
The coming into force of the Biosafety Protocol (the Protocol) charts out a new direction in the growth and development of modern biotechnology. It is a timely and vital development given that in a very short timeframe, transgenic croplands have increased rapidly from zero in 1995 to 39.9 million hectares in 1999. Adoption rates to these transgenic crops have increased more than 23 times between 1996 and 1999. 1 Most of these have taken place in the industrial countries of the USA, Canada and Australia, and the developing countries of Argentina, China, Mexico and South Africa. 2 This decade will witness many African countries adopting and commercializing transgenic crops. However, efforts to invest have to be guided by sound mechanisms for assessing risks and benefits. This is crucial to enable African governments to make informed choices and decisions.
The Contemporary British History Play
Introduction Biographical History Plays Social History Plays Oppositional History Plays Marxist and Socialist History Plays Feminist History Plays Deconstructionist and Postmodern History Plays and Satire The Search for a Theatrical Form Appendix A: Performance Dates of Contemporary British History Plays Appendix B: Performance Locales of Contemporary British History Plays Bibliography Index