Visibility and Sustainability of the BICs

International Service for the Acquisition of

Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA)

c/o IRRI, DAPO Box 7777

Metro Manila, Philippines

Dr. Rhodora R. AldemitaSenior Program Officer

Global Knowledge Center ISAAA

Biotechnology Information Centers

FUNCTIONS

• respond to specific information needs;

• promote and advance a broader public understanding of crop biotechnology;

• and monitor the local agri-biotech environment.

Found at the heart of Global Knowledge Center (KC)

BICs – ISAAA’s Eye in the Country

Knowledgeable on the overall climate (and key trends) for plant biotech in your country/region

• New government biosafety regulations and status

• Biotech research trends: crops, livestock, marine, health

• Progress in biotech crop research and the ones in the pipeline

• Status of applications for food, feed, propagation or commercialization

• Identify key people, organizations whom we can partner

• Identify important personnel (government or otherwise) as biotech spokesperson

Aware of the major challenges/opportunities for plant biotech in your country/region

BICs – ISAAA’s Eye in the Country

• Movement and strategies of the ‘other’ groups

• Political/security situation in the country

• Biotech knowledge gaps across stakeholders and partners

• Research capacities and needs of research institutions

• Research gaps in important crops

• Unstable funding sources

• Possible activities/strategies to meet the challenges

CURRENT BIC DELIVERABLES

I. Minimum Expectations: Mailing List (200/1M the population)

Country No. of Subscribers

Target

200/1M population

Brazil 49,284 38,747

Argentina 7,050 8,055

India 171,441 231,069

Thailand 140,393 13,553

Japan 862 25,512

Korea 1,790 9,749

China 120,983 266,292

Vietnam 2,748 17,456

Philippines 120,587 18,397

Indonesia 21,806 45,993

Bangladesh 75,352 32,444

Your target for 2011??

Country No. of Subscribers Target

200/1M population

Malaysia 33,255 5,494

Pakistan 12,924 33,942

Peru 5,292 5,833

Iran 670 14,581

Kenya 55,174 7,960

Egypt 33,312 16,600

Mali 3,631 2,602

Burkina Faso 1,631 3,151

Uganda 1,422 6,542

Tanzania 1,054 8,748

Nigeria 931 30,946

Ghana 848 4,767

Ethiopia 846 16,565

Malawi 325 3,053

Togo 21 1,324

CBU Articles (2 per month) = only few are meeting the target

II. Activities for the Year Sensitization, Information and Education - Seminars, Symposium and Workshops to various stakeholders (media, policy makers, farmers, consumers, religious groups, etc) Exhibits III. Other Activities - Resource Speakership - Participation in fora - Visits/tours attended to and organized - Multi-media interviews and exposures - Documents produced or helped produce

CURRENT BIC DELIVERABLES

Are these deliverables enough to: 1. Make a change in the country’s biotech status? 2. Reach the target key stakeholder that would effect change 3. Make the BIC visible not only in the biotech circle but also in national and international arena. 4. Initiate steps to sustain the BICs existence in the country

BIC Examination

Workplan Formulation

• Make an evaluation of the biotech status in your country, then make a Country Goal. eg. passing of the biosafety bill, biotech crop commercialization (identify specific crops), approval of field testing, etc.

• Make a one year set of activities under the II and III of the Quarterly Report that would help reach the Goal

• Add an additional item on Steps to take for sustainability, eg., partnerships

• Calendar the Activities and put the budget

Partnership for Sustainability

Fact: Unstable and limited funds and need to tap partners for sustainability

Choosing the partner in your country

• Stable fund source and does not rely on donations (e.g. private foundations, university, research institute, seed companies, etc)

• With similar or parallel goals as ISAAA, e.g. hunger and poverty alleviation in developing countries.

• Flexible timelines of activities

• Has credibility and visibility in the biotech arena

How to be Visible in Your Country

• Organizing biotech-related events that feature renowned biotech scientists, policy makers, etc.

• Holding pioneering activities eg. MyBio Carnival, etc.

• Participating in activities on national scale

• Partnering with nationally-recognized and acknowledged biotech entities

• Interactions/rubbing elbows with ‘vip’s in business/social occasions

• Know what is going on in biotechnology in your country and ALWAYS get involved.

Include one or two of the following new initiatives

1.Biotech Week (e.g. My BioCarnival)

2. Innovative Publications (eg. Mandy and Fanny)

3.Basic Biotech Lectures for Selected Stakeholders

4.Regional/International Activity such as Biotech Knowledge-sharing, Science Communication, and others

1. Made a change in the country’s biotech status? 2. Reached the target key stakeholder that would affect change 3. Made the BIC visible not only in the biotech circle but also in national and international arena. 4. Initiated steps to sustain the BICs existence/sustainability in the country

Yearly Rating of BICs

Workplan Formulation

Vietnam 200/1M Target for the Year Mailing List (Target)

17,456 5,000

CBU article target

24 24

Minimum Requirements

1. Identify the biotech crop challenges and

constraints2. What is the goal, the yearly mission3. Enumerate the activities to attain mission and goal,

taking into consideration:

BIC visibility in the country Sustainability and Partnership

4. Schedule the activities5. Put corresponding budget

Guide Questions