Management of appropriate agricultural biotechnology for small producers: case study - Ecuador

Resumen

Today, agricultural biotechnology, together with its potential and risks, is a matter of concern for politicians, producers, scientists and the civil society. It is a heavily discussed issue in almost every country, where opinions of the different parties vary considerably and sometimes are quite different. Consequently, appropriate management, considering aspects related to research, biosafety, intellectual property rights and public perception regarding this technology, is of utmost importance. For this reason, the International REDBIO Foundation started and sponsored this study, choosing Ecuador as a country with a high potential for the application of biotechnology since it presents an important degree of diversity with problems typical of many Latin American countries, such as loss of biological diversity, poor institutional development and scarcity of financial resources. The objective of the present document is to outline the framework and general concept of biotechnological management at three levels: international, local and institutional and to carry out an in-depth analysis of the particular case of Ecuador in order to propose steps to improve the application of appropriate biotechnologies for the small producers in the country. In this regard, a study and regulation analysis on the issue has been carried out, complemented by 22 interviews with 32 experts from 19 institutions (Annex) in Ecuador, who play an important role in the innovation, regulation and