Presented by Jane Morris at the First Bio-Innovate Regional Scientific Conference, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 25-27 February 2013

1. E Jane Morris
African Centre for Gene
Technologies and Department of
Biochemistry University of Pretoria
APPLYING AND
INTEGRATING
First Bio-Innovate Regional
BIOSCIENCE
Scientific Conference INNOVATION FOR
United Nations Conference SOCIO-ECONOMIC
Centre (UNCC-ECA) DEVELOPMENT
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
25-27 February 2013

2. What is bioscience innovation?
 Transferand application of knowledge, R&D
and information (OECD)
 The innovative application of biotechnology to
create products or services
 Can involve adoption, refinement and
modification of existing technologies – not
necessarily new cutting edge technologies

3. Bioscience innovation towards
a bioeconomy
 Africa and the world need to move towards a
sustainable bioeconomy
 So – what do we mean by a bioeconomy?
 A world where biotechnology contributes to a
significant share of economic output (OECD)
 Sustainable production and conversion of
biomass, for a range of food, health, fibre and
industrial products and energy, where renewable
biomass encompasses any biological material to
be used as raw material (EU)

4. Why does Africa need a bio-
economy?
 The current trajectory of economic development
is ecologically unsustainable
 Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the regions where
natural services are most threatened by human
impacts
 To be sustainable, the development of a bio-
economy should focus not only on new uses of
biomass, but also on increased biomass
production and on its more efficient use, including
use of waste products. Africa has huge potential
here!

5. What about a Bioeconomy
strategy?
 EU Bio-economy Strategy focuses on the potential for
conversion of agricultural biomass into food, feed, bio-
based products and bioenergy
 US Bio-economy Blueprint focuses on new drugs and
diagnostics for improved human health, higher-
yielding food crops, biofuels and bio-based chemical
intermediates
 China sees the bio-economy as a means to tackle
certain economic and societal challenges rather than
an end goal.
 AFRICA???

6. IS AFRICA MAKING ANY
PROGRESS TOWARDS THE
DEVELOPMENT OF A BIO-
ECONOMY?

7. African case study – Striga
tolerant cereals
 21m ha infested across Africa, major crop losses
 BASF developed herbicide tolerant maize that
would kill Striga
 Technology deployed through AATF
 Limited uptake
 Uptake hampered by limited seed availability,
lack of training for farmers
 Need for brochures in local languages –
provided by NGOs

8. African case study – banana
tissue culture
 Disease results in low yields and shortened life of
plants
 Tissue culture bananas provide disease free
planting material
 Concerted efforts to enhance uptake and
improve distribution of plantlets
 Technology uptake low (eg 5% in Kenya)
 Uptake hampered by high costs of production,
lack of access to credit by farmers, the need for
agricultural inputs, and knowledge of the
required agronomic practices
 Need for disease resistant plants

9. African case study – microbial
fermentation in South Africa
 Technology to produce the amino acid lysine
developed in South Africa
 1996 - $70M investment in fermentation plant to
produce 11 000 tonnes per annum
 Technologically successful though a steep
learning curve
 1998 – management buyout
 Plant suboptimal in size, tried to diversify into
other less commoditized amino acids
 2009 – acquired by a Canadian company,
moved to yeast production

10. African case study – value
addition through agroprocessing
 Various initiatives to add value to agricultural
products across Africa
 Eg Cassava in Nigeria, cashew nuts in Kenya,
liquorice in South Africa, edible oils in East Africa
 Governments and private sector have all
recognized the potential for growth. Market-led,
private sector involvement is key for success.
 Needs to be a strong linkage between producers
and processors
 Technological, market, institutional and
infrastructural issues must all be addressed

11. Challenges and hurdles (1)
 Access to finance, markets and business
advisory services
 Support for business plan development
 Seed funding and venture capital
 Lack of purchasing power in local markets
 Transport costs and difficulty of access to markets
in the developed world
 Time and cost of product development
 Lack of critical mass (expertise, facilities, money)
 Leads to lack of competitiveness

12. Challenges and hurdles (2)
 Intellectual property
 Weak protection of IPRs in much of Africa
 Difficulty of accessing IP to ensure Freedom to
Operate
 High cost of patenting
 Liability and redress concerns
 Protection of indigenous knowledge
 Policy and regulatory hurdles
 Policies and legislation do not support innovation
 Lack of regulations for biological products

13. Challenges and hurdles (3)
 Funding for R&D
 Lack of government support for research,
development and innovation
 Reliance on donor organizations
 Lack of modern equipment, and/or funds to run
and maintain equipment
 Lack of pilot plant facilities
 Technical skills and know-how
 Lack of technological readiness hampers
innovation

14. SOME SOLUTIONS
 Public-private partnerships
 Eg WEMA, Syngenta Foundation projects
 Bioincubators
 Need to be developed throughout the continent
 Regional African collaborations
 CORAF/WECARD, ASARECA etc
 Sustained donor-funded programmes
 Eg Bio-Innovate!!
 Technology licensing
 Eg P57 in South Africa

15. FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES
 Improved crops,
 Animal vaccines and diagnostics
 Medicinal products derived from the continent’s
biodiversity
 Biofuels,
 Biological fertilizers
 Biological control agents
 Plant and animal diagnostics
 Biological waste treatment
 Nutraceuticals
 Cosmeceuticals

16. THE WAY FORWARD
 Innovators must focus on areas where Africa has a
real competitive advantage
 Increase investment in market research and
technology benchmarking
 Increase global competitiveness through investment
climate reforms
 Increase investment in skills development
 Lobby for strong political leadership to remove
generic roadblocks
 Strive for an integrated approach to development of
the bioinnovation value chain
 Build on synergies through collaboration

17. SO – LET’S GET
GOING AND DO IT!!!