Considering an expanding research and development pipeline of and growing practical experiences with genetically modified (GM) crops, governments in Sub-Sahara Africa have in recent years authorized various GM crop events for general, unconfined environmental release, and in a few cases, subsequent commercial variety registration and cultivation. These decisions are consistent with more business-oriented agricultural development policies aimed at turning agriculture into a leading driver of economic growth and wealth creation. Such policy reforms are also motivated by continent-wide initiatives described in this review paper, which emphasize seed sector reform, agricultural productivity growth, intra-regional trade, and agri-business development. While such policy developments spur a more proactive approach to introducing agricultural biotechnology, it becomes apparent that authorizing GM crops for general environmental release and commercial seed registration requires the harmonization of government policies in various sectors relevant to seed systems, most notably those affecting plant breeding research, testing, and variety release. Critical areas for such policy reforms and harmonization were analyzed in this paper, with associated recommendations.

中文翻译：

---

授权转基因作物品种：对撒哈拉以南非洲种子系统的政策影响

考虑到转基因 (GM) 作物的研发渠道不断扩大和实践经验不断增加，近年来，撒哈拉以南非洲地区的政府已批准各种转基因作物活动，用于一般的、无限制的环境释放，并在少数情况下，批准随后的商业化品种登记和栽培。这些决定符合更多以商业为导向的农业发展政策，旨在将农业转变为经济增长和财富创造的主要驱动力。此类政策改革也受到本评论文件中描述的整个大陆倡议的推动，这些倡议强调种子部门改革、农业生产力增长、区域内贸易和农业企业发展。虽然此类政策发展刺激了引入农业生物技术的更积极的方法，但很明显，授权转基因作物用于一般环境释放和商业种子注册需要协调与种子系统相关的各个部门的政府政策，最显着的是那些影响植物育种研究的部门、测试和品种发布。本文分析了此类政策改革和协调的关键领域，并提出了相关建议。