Farmers In Ethiopia’s Rift Valley Set To Sow GMO Maize

TELA maize variety offers increased resistance to pests, drought

Following years of research, field trials, regulatory scrutiny, and amidst growing pressure to combat food insecurity, experts at the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) say they are ready to begin the commercial rollout of genetically modified (GM) maize in the Rift Valley.

Institute experts revealed to The Reporter that smallholder farmers in the Rift Valley—an area hard-hit by drought and pest-related yield losses—will soon be able to buy a strain of GM maize recently approved by the National Variety Release Committee (NVRC).

The strain is being introduced as part of the TELA Maize Project led by the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the former United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The project seeks to address maize yield losses in Africa, where an estimated 300 million depend on the crop as their primary food source.

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Tesfaye Disasa (PhD) heads the TELA project at EIAR. He hopes to see the new strain curb losses to pests such as stemborers and fall armyworms, which combined destroy millions of tonnes of maize across Africa each year.

‎‎“The Rift Valley is prioritized because it’s where maize production suffers the most from fall armyworm and stemborer infestations,” Tesfaye explained. “These new TELA varieties will help farmers mitigate crop losses while reducing the cost and health risks associated with pesticide use.”

‎‎Research indicates two-thirds of Ethiopia’s maize is cultivated in mid-altitude regions (between 1,000 and 2,000 meters above sea level), where droughts and biotic stressors consistently undermine output.

Experts at EIAR have conducted successful local trials using TELA maize, and determined the new variety will be most effective in Rift Valley farms.

‎‎Tesfaye disclosed that while initial seeds will be imported and multiplied domestically, plans are underway to fully localize production in the near future.

‎‎”First, the seed comes from abroad. The reason is that, here in Ethiopia, we have not yet started producing the seed that carries the necessary gene. So, the gene-holding seed is imported, and then it will be multiplied locally. It has already been commercialized. Support has been secured,” he told The Reporter. “However, there are still broader supporting measures that need to be in place. Once the regulatory framework is properly implemented, the seed will be locally selected, and farmers will be able to purchase it from domestic seed producers.”

‎The decision to commercialize the transgenic maize was made official in mid-June, after the NVRC granted its approval for the TELA maize varieties. It was the culmination of a seven-year development process, including five years of bio-safety reviews and another two years of performance trials.

Developed through a public-private partnership under AATF, the TELA maize varieties were tested over several seasons in Ethiopia. The seeds, Tesfaye noted, will be distributed royalty-free through local seed companies and have already demonstrated strong resistance to both pests and drought in Ethiopian field trials.

Despite this, the path toward wide-scale adoption still remains fraught with structural and regulatory hurdles—particularly when it comes to seed sourcing and bio-safety oversight.

Reports indicate that the initial reliance on importing genetically modified seeds poses significant financial and logistical constraints in much of Africa, including Ethiopia.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, the reliance on imported gene-holding seeds brings both economic and logistical burdens. A detailed study published by AATF and titled ‘Regulatory challenges for GM crops in developing economies: the African experience’ sheds further light on these burdens.

The study’s authors observe that while this approach is ideal in principle, national biosafety frameworks (NBFs) in most African countries are steeped in a host of policy, legal and operational challenges that appear to be at cross-purposes with the noble efforts of seeking to access, test and deliver promising GM crops for use by resource-limited farmers in Africa.

The study encapsulates the kind of regulatory entanglements Tesfaye has referred to, frameworks that are nominally in place but practically deadlocked by procedural and institutional gaps.

Nonetheless, the TELA project has made significant progress since it first set foot in Ethiopia in 2017, coinciding with a decision at EIAR to prioritize major staple crops for biotechnology-based improvements. Maize and potato were identified for potential GM trials, with maize receiving priority due to its role in national food supply and the pressing threat of pests and climate variability.

‎‎The nation then formally joined the TELA initiative in 2018. By the following year, confined trials of genetically modified maize varieties were underway.

Today, GMO experts say these varieties are the ideal solution to the pest and drought troubles faced by maize growers. While several other pest control strategies exist, including intercropping, biological controls, and pesticide application, many remain costly, inconsistent, or inaccessible to small-scale farmers, who have been known to lose entire crops to pests.

“The aim is not only to boost productivity but also to make farming safer and more affordable,” Tesfaye said.

TELA maize is the second GM crop to be commercialized in Ethiopia, following the introduction of BT cotton in recent years. The cotton variety, engineered for resistance against bollworm, has already been widely adopted by commercial farms in Ethiopia’s cotton belt despite concerns about affordability. BT cotton seeds can cost up to USD 28 per kilo.

Officials view the introduction and the relative success it has enjoyed as a stepping stone for  greater public and political confidence in GM crop research, especially after safety protocols were demonstrated to lawmakers and industry stakeholders.

‎Tadesse Daba (PhD), national coordinator of the Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB-Eth), told The Reporter in February 2024 that while GMO debates remain polarized, Ethiopia’s approach is grounded in transparency, safety, and national interest.

He pointed out that GMO opponents often overlook the widespread reliance on other foreign agricultural inputs like hybrid seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides, many of which are also imported and offer less long-term sustainability than biotech crops.

‎“Over 80 percent of Ethiopia’s maize comes from hybrid seeds, which also require re-purchasing each season. Yet the opposition often targets GMOs only,” said Tadesse. “Biotechnology allows us to reduce dependency on pesticides and increase resilience without replacing indigenous varieties.”

‎While GMO cotton and now maize have cleared regulatory hurdles, other crops like potato and enset (false banana) remain under contained field trials.

Experts assert that biotechnology will not replace local species but rather enhance their traits, improving food security without compromising biodiversity.

‎Still, critics argue that Ethiopia’s 2015 Biosafety Proclamation, which enabled GMO research and commercialization, was rushed through Parliament without adequate deliberation. They want to see GMOs used only as a last resort.

‎Concerns also persist about the influence of multinational seed companies. However, Ethiopian scientists argue that the issue is less about GMOs and more about broader structural challenges in local input production.