The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) released a policy research report entitled Harnessing Technologies for Sustainable Development to coincide with the World Summit on Sustainable Development. The key messages of this 167-page document are that "If effectively harnessed, new and emerging technologies can help catalyze Africas transition to sustainable development by lowering the incidence of disease, reducing food insecurity, and decreasing vulnerability to environmental damage by allowing more flexible crop management systems. However, the expected benefits of both medical (red) and agricultural (green) biotechnology can only be realized if a number of key challenges are addressed, including the extent to which the technologies are relevant to Africa, are pro-poor and mitigate biosafety and related risks. Biotechnology should be viewed as one part of a comprehensive, sustainable poverty reduction strategy, and not as a technological quick fix for Africas hunger and poverty problems". See http://www.uneca.org/harnessing/ or contact [email protected] for more information.

04/10/2002