New rules for regulation
30 July 2010
Last week I was in Nairobi for our regular 6-monthly RIU team meeting. The RIU portfolio of experiments in putting research into use contains some real gems - innovative technological and institutional solutions to problems that are preventing smallholder farmers from enhancing their families' food security and increasing their incomes.
Last week I was in Nairobi for our regular 6-monthly RIU team meeting. The RIU portfolio of experiments in putting research into use contains some real gems - innovative technological and institutional solutions to problems that are preventing smallholder farmers from enhancing their families' food security and increasing their incomes.
One thing that struck me, however, as I listened to our team members describing their achievements and challenges was how often regulatory issues were constraining innovation and holding up social and economic development.
Obviously regulations are important - without them we would rapidly descend into chaos. But regulatory authorities also need to be responsive and able to balance real risks and benefits. Too often, it seemed to me, regulatory authorities in Africa have failed to change with the times.
But, as Plato so pertinently observed, necessity is the mother of invention. One of the memorable sound bites that emerged during our meeting last week was that 'every barrier was a business opportunity'.
One of our Best Bets illustrates this neatly by taking a regulatory hold-up and turning it to their advantage. We are supporting the Kenya-based Real IPM Company to develop and market an innovative research-based product to control the parasitic weed Striga - which devastates maize and other cereal crops in western Kenya and, indeed, throughout wide tracts of the continent's agricultural land. The product they plan to introduce, StopStriga, has two components: one is a simple 'seed priming' technology, i.e. a nutrient solution in which seeds are soaked overnight prior to sowing which boosts germination rates, while the other is a novel biopesticide to combat Striga.
As progress on the registration of the combined StopStriga product has been slower than had been hoped, Real IPM have decided in the meantime to go ahead with a simpler product that faces far fewer regulatory hurdles. Their new GroPlus product consists of a small pack of phosphate-based fertilizer which farmers dissolve in water and use to soak their maize seeds overnight prior to sowing. A recent pilot-scale trial has enabled farmers in western Kenya to witness the benefits of this simple, low-cost technique for themselves. Real IPM now plans to introduce the product on a commercial basis ahead of the main 2011 planting season. Sensitizing farmers to the GroPlus product will also pave the way for the more complicated StopStriga product once the regulatory process has run its course.
In the UK, one of the flagship initiatives of the new coalition government is to invite citizens to suggest laws that they think should be abolished. Perhaps the time has come for a similar initiative in African countries - with an overhaul of antiquated regulations that constrain agricultural innovation coming high up the list. With many African countries being members of rapidly strengthening regional economic communities, such as the East African Community, now is also the time to harmonize regulations amongst neighbouring countries.
There are some encouraging signs. Some years ago in Uganda, when the SOS campaign began trying to control tsetse flies that spread sleeping sickness to people by spraying cattle, a regulatory hurdle was encountered. The insecticidal spray that the team planned to use was not at that time registered for use, although it was an established product with similar products registered for use throughout the world. Recognizing the emergency nature of the problem at hand (the rapid spread of sleeping sickness) commonsense prevailed and the authorities granted a temporary waiver to allow the treatment campaign to go ahead.
Regulatory authorities need to wake up to the reality that millions of children going to bed hungry every night and widespread and grinding poverty is also an emergency that warrants urgent action.
Obviously regulations are important - without them we would rapidly descend into chaos. But regulatory authorities also need to be responsive and able to balance real risks and benefits. Too often, it seemed to me, regulatory authorities in Africa have failed to change with the times.
But, as Plato so pertinently observed, necessity is the mother of invention. One of the memorable sound bites that emerged during our meeting last week was that 'every barrier was a business opportunity'.
One of our Best Bets illustrates this neatly by taking a regulatory hold-up and turning it to their advantage. We are supporting the Kenya-based Real IPM Company to develop and market an innovative research-based product to control the parasitic weed Striga - which devastates maize and other cereal crops in western Kenya and, indeed, throughout wide tracts of the continent's agricultural land. The product they plan to introduce, StopStriga, has two components: one is a simple 'seed priming' technology, i.e. a nutrient solution in which seeds are soaked overnight prior to sowing which boosts germination rates, while the other is a novel biopesticide to combat Striga.
As progress on the registration of the combined StopStriga product has been slower than had been hoped, Real IPM have decided in the meantime to go ahead with a simpler product that faces far fewer regulatory hurdles. Their new GroPlus product consists of a small pack of phosphate-based fertilizer which farmers dissolve in water and use to soak their maize seeds overnight prior to sowing. A recent pilot-scale trial has enabled farmers in western Kenya to witness the benefits of this simple, low-cost technique for themselves. Real IPM now plans to introduce the product on a commercial basis ahead of the main 2011 planting season. Sensitizing farmers to the GroPlus product will also pave the way for the more complicated StopStriga product once the regulatory process has run its course.
In the UK, one of the flagship initiatives of the new coalition government is to invite citizens to suggest laws that they think should be abolished. Perhaps the time has come for a similar initiative in African countries - with an overhaul of antiquated regulations that constrain agricultural innovation coming high up the list. With many African countries being members of rapidly strengthening regional economic communities, such as the East African Community, now is also the time to harmonize regulations amongst neighbouring countries.
There are some encouraging signs. Some years ago in Uganda, when the SOS campaign began trying to control tsetse flies that spread sleeping sickness to people by spraying cattle, a regulatory hurdle was encountered. The insecticidal spray that the team planned to use was not at that time registered for use, although it was an established product with similar products registered for use throughout the world. Recognizing the emergency nature of the problem at hand (the rapid spread of sleeping sickness) commonsense prevailed and the authorities granted a temporary waiver to allow the treatment campaign to go ahead.
Regulatory authorities need to wake up to the reality that millions of children going to bed hungry every night and widespread and grinding poverty is also an emergency that warrants urgent action.
We will be learning a great deal about regulatory barriers through a number of Best Bets. It would be good to hear from other projects and programmes about how regulation inhibits innovation and research into use.
Posted by: Duncan Sones | 03 August 2010 at 08:29 AM