POLICY AND PRACTICE REVIEWS article
Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.
Sec. Biosafety and Biosecurity
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2025.1654335
Uganda's evolving national biosafety system: Lessons from the past 30 years
Provisionally accepted
Barbara Mugwanya Zawedde1*
Kwehangana Musa2
Isaac Ongu3
Andrew Waiswa Ibanda4
Peter Wasswa5
Andrew Kiggundu6
Charles Mugoya7Deborah Kasule2Arthur Musinguzi Makara3David Hafashimana8Theresa Ssengooba9
Herbert Oloka9- 1National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO), Entebbe, Uganda
- 2Uganda National Council for Science and Technology, Kampala, Uganda
- 3Science Foundation for Livelihoods and Development (SCIFODE), Kampala, Uganda
- 4Uganda Biotechnology and Biosafety Consortium (UBBC), Kampala, Uganda
- 5Makerere University College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Kampala, Uganda
- 6National Livestock Resources Research Institute, National Agricultural Research Organization,, Kampala, Uganda
- 7Target Malaria Project, Uganda Virus Research Institute, Entebbe, Uganda
- 8Enviro-Impact and Management Consults, Kampala, Uganda
- 9Atiri Agri-Bio Solutions Uganda, Kampala, Uganda
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Uganda has made progress towards developing a fully functional biosafety system. The system has evolved in the past three decades to enable substantial application of modern biotechnology in different sectors. Key informant interviews were used to capture tacit knowledge from respondents who were identified to have vast knowledge and experience of the biosafety system of Uganda in the past 30 years. Secondary data was then used to fill the gaps in the knowledge map. From the findings we were able to identify the key drivers of policy reforms that shaped the evolution of the biosafety regulatory system; policy, institutional developments, partnerships, public participation and engagements milestones that contributed to developing the biosafety system in Uganda. We discuss the lessons learnt and their implications for on-going and future biosafety policy and legal discourse. We share some strategic recommendations that we believe if implemented will enable Uganda, and other developing countries, to put in place a coordinated and evidence-based regulatory system, which is required for effective application and adoption of the current and emerging biotechnologies. Uganda's case study is also a learning experience for countries that are in the process of establishing a biosafety frameworks.
Keywords: Biotechnology regulation, GMOs, Competent Aauthority, Africa, Sscience outreach
Received: 26 Jun 2025; Accepted: 22 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zawedde, Musa, Ongu, Ibanda, Wasswa, Kiggundu, Mugoya, Kasule, Makara, Hafashimana, Ssengooba and Oloka. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Barbara Mugwanya Zawedde, bmugwanya@gmail.com
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.