Agricultural Biotechnology in Developing Countries: A Cross-Country Review

Growing numbers of governments in developing countries are investing in infrastructure and human resources to support national biotechnology programs. At the same time, they are adopting policies to facilitate biotechnology R&D in both the public and private sectors. This report provides a comparative description of the different approaches taken by 10 developing-country governments to stimulate biotechnology research. The experiences discussed include an analysis of the institutional organization adopted, a description as to how the governments of these countries manage the regulatory aspects of biotechnology (biosafety and intellectual property rights), and how they address issues constraining further development of agricultural biotechnology. The basic data came from country studies commissioned as part of an overall study titled Agricultural Biotechnology: Opportunities for International Development.