Financing of Regional Biotechnology Regulations : Lessons from West Africa

Introduction Access to agricultural technology is seen as important for increasing food security and promoting development in many low-income countries (Clarke, 1997; Islam, 1995; Mitchell, Ingco, & Duncan, 1997; PinstrupAndersen, Pandya-Lorch, & Rosegrant, 1999). The green revolution provides some evidence to support a technology-led solution to the problem of feeding people (Trewavas, 1999). Therefore, as a way to promote agricultural development and address capacity constraints, donor agencies and development institutions are financing regional environmental regulatory frameworks for the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).1 To date, few attempts have been made to systematically analyze the development of regional approaches to the regulation of biotechnology. Birner and Linacre (2007) provide an overview of the design options available to countries. In this article, we examine one of the design issues identified by Birner and Linacre (2007), namely the design of sustainable financing systems for regional implementations of the Cartagena Biosafety Protocol.2 Many developing countries are currently in the process of developing regulatory frameworks for biotechnology. More than 120 countries are signatories to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and participate in the “Development of National Biosafety Frameworks” project of the United Nations Environment Program and the Global Environmental Facility (UNEP-GEF). Eight countries have moved to the UNEP-GEF project on the “Implementation of National Biosafety Frameworks.”3 Concerns about the costs associated with biotechnology regulation, technical capacity constraints, and potential problems to control transboundary movements of