Although honourable, Monsanto South Africa MD Kobus Steenkamp does not see organic farming reaching a stage where it will provide 100% food security, highlighting the ability of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to increase yields.

“Our main focus is on increasing productivity on every hectare available. Organic farming needs more land, because its yield is less. There are various benefits of organic farming, but we don’t have the luxury of all the land [required],” he said during a recent site tour of the agriculture company’s Petit Research Farm, in Petit, Benoni.

There was limited land available owing to more and more land being allocated to development. Highlighting the loss of Midrand, previously some of the top productive arable land in South Africa, Steenkamp pointed out that farmers would need to produce enough food with fewer resources to support the world’s increasing population, adding that tens of thousands of hectares were lost every year to modernisation.

GMO would also aid the protection of South Africa’s biodiversity, said Steenkamp, explaining that it would be unfortunate if farmers took up cattle farming in the Kruger National Park because the country had run out of pasture land. “That would be something very detrimental to South Africa’s biodiversity and is something that we should not even consider. [As such], we need to have technologies in place to ensure that we can produce the food needed on the land we have available.

“I am not saying there isn’t a place for organic farming. Unfortunately, the same does not apply to the promoters of organic farming because they believe they have the only solution,” he noted. GMO products had also undergone extensive testing, which confirmed that GMO food had the same nutritional value as any other foodstuff.

Other factors threatening food security included the rise in the global population from 4.4-billion in 1980 to 7.1-billion today, with this number expected to grow to more than 9.6-billion by 2050. “The concerning factor is that this growth is not happening in Europe or America; it’s happening in the developing countries, such as India, China and those in Africa, [where issues around food security already exist],” Steenkamp stressed, adding that more people were also moving to cities to improve their economic situation.

As such, changing economies and diets were also impacting on maize consumption as a growing global middle-class was choosing animal protein as a larger part of their diet. Therefore, more grain was needed to produce these protein products, with 14% of the average diet expected to be made up of a protein source in 2030, compared with 9% in 1965. Steenkamp, however, cited Cancer Association of South Africa research found that there was a huge increase in colon cancer in the African population in South Africa as they were eating less maize meal as they included more refined food stuffs in their diets.

Farmers were also impacted on by climate change, which saw the rise of water availability issues, increasingly unpredictable weather conditions, insect range expansion, weed pressure changes, crop disease increases and planting zone shifts.

To provide solutions for sustainable agriculture, Monsanto’s toolkit consists of plant breeding, biotechnology, crop protection, biologicals and precision agriculture.

“We have some of the solutions, not all the solutions. To address all the issues we have globally in food production, we need to work together to bring the best solutions together and make a real difference,” commented Steenkamp. However, food wastage was also a big concern.

In the US and Europe, food waste took place after it had been prepared, with Steenkamp highlighting that between 25% and 30% of all food produced went to waste. “That should be an embarrassment to all of us as humans.”

In Africa, food wastage takes place in the early phases, owing to improper storage, enabling grain to become infested with weevils or exposed to rain damage.

The US-headquartered company has been operating in South Africa since 1968 and is present in 16 African countries, and operates through distribution. In Africa, as of September last year, the company is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. Its second hub is Abuja, Nigeria, with Johannesburg, the third hub on the continent.

The difference between South African agriculture and the rest of the agriculture sector is that the country has a huge commercial segment of maize farmers, while commercial farmers also exist in Zambia and Kenya. In countries such as Tanzania, Burkina Faso and Malawi, the industry is represented by smallholder farmers with access to 1 ha or less.

However, agriculture is being hindered by African countries’ lack of regulations with regard to GMO crops. Monsanto South Africa regulatory affairs lead Central, Eastern and Southern Africa and South Africa Alison Levesley noted that Monsanto would only submit an application in a country that had a biosafety Act, pointing out the company’s penchant towards a rigorous review process.

“Kenya, Malawi and Nigeria have a workable framework. As more countries follow suit, we will see a lot changing in Africa,” said Levesley.

In South Africa, GMOs are currently regulated as toxic chemicals rather than biological products under the GMO Act. There are currently three GMO crops planted in the country – maize, soya beans and cotton. Biotechnology, focuses on influencing plants to produce additional proteins, having been introduced to the South African agriculture industry in the late 90s.

In terms of maize, about 3 000 commercial farmers plant about 2.6-million hectares, 86% of which contains a biotechnology trait/GMO product. These farmers represent 20% of South Africa’s farmers but produce 80% of the country’s grain. As such, Steenkamp emphasises the importance of having a well constructed and organised land reform, void of emotions, as it could have an impact on the country’s food security.

South Africa’s 500 000 or more small-scale farmers account for 300 000 ha of maize and reside in KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and to a lesser extent in the western parts of South Africa.

White maize, used for human consumption, traditionally accounts for 60% of all maize planted, and yellow maize, used for animal feed and some human consumption, such as Kellogg’s corn flakes, make up the balance.

Steenkamp noted, however, that production was trending towards yellow maize. Monsanto produces about 13-million tons of maize grain.

Non-GMO maize is available, however, with demand coming from South African Breweries for its beer production.