{"id":15195,"date":"2026-06-20T12:41:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:41:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/iita-afs-partner-to-promote-biotech-communication\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T20:52:45","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T20:52:45","slug":"iita-afs-partner-to-promote-biotech-communication","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/iita-afs-partner-to-promote-biotech-communication\/","title":{"rendered":"IITA, AfS partner to promote biotech communication"},"content":{"rendered":"Partnering with the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/allianceforscience.cornell.edu\/\">Cornell Alliance for Science<\/a>\u00a0(AfS),\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/\">IITA<\/a>\u00a0has launched the Biotech Communications Capacity Building program to implement Africa\u2019s training activities. Launched in September 2020, the 4-year project plans to address misinformation around crop biotechnology, specifically genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and genome-edited products. Another object is countering conspiracy theories and disinformation campaigns that hinder climate change, synthetic biology, and agricultural innovations.\n\nThe IITA component of the project will focus on leadership development and capacity building of effective science messengers. These messengers include but are not limited to scientists, media practitioners, farmers, and policymakers. The learning programs will focus on the benefits of genome editing and GMOs and why it is important to regulate these products in a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/science-based-policies-can-unlock-africas-access-to-genome-edited-crop-varieties\/https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/science-based-policies-can-unlock-africas-access-to-genome-edited-crop-varieties\/\">science-based and informed manner<\/a>.\n<div id=\"attachment_7506\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\">\n\n<a href=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IITA-Afs1.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7506\" src=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IITA-Afs1.jpg\" alt=\"IITA, AfS partner to promote biotech communication\" width=\"820\" height=\"411\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7506\" \/><\/a>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7506\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">IITA researcher Sarah Macharia observing genome-edited banana plants in the glasshouse.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\nSelon\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/allianceforscience.cornell.edu\/team\/patricia-nanteza\/\">Patricia Nanteza<\/a>, the IITA project manager, \u201cAfrican countries need to regulate the products of genome editing and GMOs based on science and evidence. In the past, there have policies that have been passed based on fear and popular opinion. These policies have succeeded in closing out agricultural innovation in Africa, yet the continent\u2019s farmers need improved seed to fight the ever-evolving pests and diseases and unpredictable climate change.\u201d\n\nPatricia further explained that the project presents an opportunity to showcase the technology to stakeholders for what it is\u2014a technology that offers the continent tools to produce better food quality and quantity for improved food security. \u201cWe know that GMOs and genome editing are not a silver bullet that will solve Africa\u2019s food insecurity problems, but we are aware that quality seed is \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/www.agriquest.info\/quality_seed.php\">the most vital and crucial input for crop production<\/a>\u2019. It is one of the ways to increase productivity without increasing the acreage of land under cultivation,\u201d she said.\n\nShe noted that despite\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/en\/chronicle\/article\/feeding-hungry-africa-not-all-lost\">Africa boasting vast arable land<\/a>, wildlife, and the highest equatorial mountains and tropical rainforests globally, it still has the second-highest number of hungry people after Asia. \u201cIt is unfair that one in five African children is malnourished and goes to bed hungry. It is unfair that African farmers continue to lose their crops due to droughts or pests like fall armyworm or diseases like banana bacterial wilt when a solution is available in the form of genome-edited or genetically engineered crops. This project is here to appeal to minds through training stakeholders on the possibilities of new agricultural innovations.\n<div id=\"attachment_7507\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\">\n\n<a href=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IITA-Afs2.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7507\" src=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IITA-Afs2.jpg\" alt=\"IITA, AfS partner to promote biotech communication\" width=\"820\" height=\"411\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7507\" \/><\/a>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7507\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">IITA project manager of the Biotech Communications Capacity Building program, Patricia Nanteza<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\u201cWe look forward to countries regulating animal and crop products from GE technology based on scientific evidence. The Alliance is proud to be associated with IITA\u2014Africa\u2019s leading research partner that is already working on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=QBdYOA0dvRY\">genome-edited products<\/a>\u00a0such as banana resistant to Banana streak virus (BSV) and banana Xanthomonas wilt (BXW),\u201d said Nanteza, who is now based in Nairobi, Kenya.\n\nThe project is funded by the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation and will work with other institutions, including,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ofabnigeria.com\/\">Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology in Africa<\/a>\u00a0(OFAB),\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/nepad-abne.net\/\">African Biosafety Network of Expertise<\/a>\u00a0(ABNE),\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ilri.org\/\">Institut international de recherche sur l'\u00e9levage<\/a>\u00a0(ILRI), BeCA, national research institutions, and farmer organizations.\n\nThe Alliance for Science is a global science communications initiative based at Cornell University in New York, USA.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Partnering with the Cornell Alliance for Science (AfS), IITA has launched the Biotech Communications Capacity Building program to implement Africa\u2019s training activities.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":15196,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"tags":[],"science-area":[],"program":[],"location":[32],"news-type":[],"hub":[61],"crop":[],"impact-areas":[],"item-year":[199],"class_list":["post-15195","news-item","type-news-item","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","location-nigeria","hub-western-africa","item-year-199"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - 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