Status of Biotechnology Policies in South Africa

Current progress with regard to the adoption, diffusion and regulation of biotechnology in Africa has mainly been in the area of agricultural biotechnology. Industrial and pharmaceutical sectors are still in their infancy. Most African countries rely on agriculture for economic growth as well as food security. Appropriate policies are necessary for progress in biotechnology and the development of such policies has been a great challenge for most African countries. To date, only a handful of African countries have policies and guidelines in place. In this paper, the policies that South Africa has developed for dealing with the issues related to adoption, diffusion and regulation of agricultural biotechnology are discussed for purposes of comparing the South African position with other African countries that have adopted biotechnology.