International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications
 | |
| Abbreviation | ISAAA |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1992 |
| Type | Not for profit organization |
| Purpose | Technology transfer, Knowledge Sharing, Capacity Building, Impact Assessment of GM Crops |
| Location | |
Region served | Worldwide |
Main organ | Board of Directors |
| Website | http://www.isaaa.org/ |
The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) is a non-profit international organization that shares the benefits of agricultural biotechnology, with a special focus on resource-poor farmers in developing countries. ISAAA facilitates the transfer and delivery of proprietary biotechnology products by involving partner organisations from public and private sectors in the research and development continuum. Aside from technology transfer, ISAAA is also involved in science-based knowledge sharing and capacity building, and produces annual report on the use of biotech crops.
International presence
ISAAA operates three regional centers.
ISAAA SEAsiaCenter is hosted by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines. This center also serves as the Global Coordination Office as well as the home of Global Knowledge Center on Crop Biotechnology (KC).[1] KC shares authoritative knowledge on every aspect of crop biotech to build capacity in national programmes to facilitate informed decision making about GM crops and their contribution to food security and environmental safety.[2] KC releases a weekly e-newsletter, the Crop Biotech Update (CBU), which features latest news about agricultural biotechnology.
ISAAA AfriCenter is hosted by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) located in Nairobi, Kenya and implements programs involving communication and policy advocacy, capacity enhancement, regional initiatives, and international networking.[3]
ISAAA AmeriCenter is located in Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. It serves as the administrative and financial headquarters of the organization.
Donor organisations
The ISAAA receives funding from both public and private donors. Some of the ISAAA's funding agencies include the USDA, US Grains Council, Monsanto, Bayer, two banks - Fondazione Bussolera in Italy and Ibercaja in Spain, USAID and the Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project II.
Annual Report on the Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops
The organization releases an annual publication on the global status of commercially approved biotech crops. The publication is authored by Clive James, the founder and chair emeritus of ISAAA. The annual brief provides research on global trends in the adoption of major biotech crops since they were first planted commercially.
The 2014 report says that "18 million farmers planted 181.5 million hectares of biotech crops in 28 countries, a sustained increase of 3-4% or 6.3 million hectares over 2013."[4]
GM Approval Database
ISAAA documents approved GM crops worldwide and presents them in an easy-to-use database available in the organization's website. Each biotech event is featured with a brief description about the crop, trait, transformation method, developer, and summary of regulatory approval. Entries in the database were sourced from Biotechnology Clearing Houses/Regulatory Institutions of approving countries.
References
- ↑ http://www.1site-europe.net/onesite_inasp/people/orgdetail.asp?orgid=14690
- ↑ http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jsfa.893/pdf Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture
- ↑ http://www.ofabafrica.org/meeting_speaker_profiles/Profile-Karembu.pdf
- ↑ http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/28/isaaa-idUSnBw276340a+100+BSW20150128
Further reading
- Genetically modified organism
- Transgenic Crops: An Introduction and Resource Guide
- Brazil surpasses US in new transgenic crop plantings. Nature Biotechnology 26: 260 (2008)
- Focus on yield - Biotech crops; evidence, outcomes and impacts 1996-2006
- Clive James: The go-to source for biotechnology crop data