Advancements brought by biotechnology—namely, improved crop varieties—have been known to enhance agricultural innovation, productivity, and farmers’ incomes. To support countries in Africa and Asia in the responsible development and use of biotechnology, USAID and IFPRI launched the Program for Biosafety Systems (PBS) in 2003. Since then, PBS has been providing technical support, legal analysis, and guideline-implementation assistance, as well as conducting outreach and training activities, which has helped push forward the passage of biosafety bills and related progress toward the responsible use of biotechnology.
The progress made by PBS is evident in its work in Nigeria, Uganda, and Viet Nam. In 2015, the technical assistance, capacity building, and awareness- creation support that PBS provided to the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Environment’s National Biosafety Management Agency helped catalyze the passage of the National Biosafety Bill into law. In Uganda, the government is making headway with PBS’s assistance in the development of guidelines and implementation of field trials that contributed to the official introduction of a draft biosafety bill in the Parliament. In Asia, PBS’s research and partnership with Viet Nam’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment contributed to the ministry’s approval of the commercial cultivation of the double stack corn seed, which is designed to control the most damaging corn pest in the region.
