Genome editing in Sub-Saharan Africa: a game-changing strategy for climate change mitigation and sustainable agriculture

Sub-Saharan Africa's agricultural sector faces a multifaceted challenge due to climate change consisting of high temperatures, changing precipitation trends, alongside intensified pest and disease outbreaks. Conventional plant breeding methods have historically contributed to yield gains in Afr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:GM crops & food 2024-12, Vol.15 (1), p.279-302
Main Authors: Amoah, Peter, Oumarou Mahamane, Abdoul-Razak, Byiringiro, Moise Hubert, Mahula, Neo Jeremiah, Manneh, Nyimasata, Oluwasegun, Yetunde Ruth, Assfaw, Abebawork Tilahun, Mukiti, Hellen Mawia, Garba, Abubakar Danlami, Chiemeke, Felicity Kido, Bernard Ojuederie, Omena, Olasanmi, Bunmi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Africa South of the Sahara
Agriculture - methods
Climate Change
Climate resilience
CRISPR-Cas Systems
CRISPR/Cas9
crop Improvement
Crops, Agricultural - genetics
Food Security
gene editing
Gene Editing - methods
plant breeding
Plant Breeding - methods
Plants, Genetically Modified - genetics
Review
sustainable agriculture
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Summary:Sub-Saharan Africa's agricultural sector faces a multifaceted challenge due to climate change consisting of high temperatures, changing precipitation trends, alongside intensified pest and disease outbreaks. Conventional plant breeding methods have historically contributed to yield gains in Africa, and the intensifying demand for food security outpaces these improvements due to a confluence of factors, including rising urbanization, improved living standards, and population growth. To address escalating food demands amidst urbanization, rising living standards, and population growth, a paradigm shift toward more sustainable and innovative crop improvement strategies is imperative. Genome editing technologies offer a promising avenue for achieving sustained yield increases while bolstering resilience against escalating biotic and abiotic stresses associated with climate change. Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats/CRISPR-associated protein (CRISPR/Cas) is unique due to its ubiquity, efficacy, alongside precision, making it a pivotal tool for Sub-Saharan African crop improvement. This review highlights the challenges and explores the prospect of gene editing to secure the region's future foods.
ISSN:2164-5698
2164-5701
2164-5701
DOI:10.1080/21645698.2024.2411767