• Greenpeace Africa and other lobbies on World Food Day called on the state to reimpose ban on GMOs. Called for public participation.
• They said big companies require famers to buy GMO seeds each year; no one is forced to use GMO seeds but yields and profits are high.
Image: FILE
Greenpeace Africa has urged the government to reimpose the GMO ban and "unshackle" Kenya’s food chain from corporations that allegedly exploit the sector.
Farmers are required to buy GMO seeds because of intellectual property issues but the high yields, high profits, reduced input costs and pest resistance make them worth the purchase, many farmers say.
Hybrid seeds, which have been around for decades, also need to be purchased.
Citing President william Ruto's commitment to agriculture, Greenpeace said it is time for the state to support farmers to increase productivity and reduce dependence on imports.
“As a trained scientist and a PhD holder in plant ecology, we expect President Ruto to make the right decision on food matters that will bring an end to the recurrent hunger situation in the country," A Greenpeace press release said.
"The true solution to food security and sovereignty lies in our farmers controlling and breeding their own seeds,” Greenpeace's Claire Nasike, an environmental scientist said.
Nasike advised the government to protect local food production by enabling farmers to exchange homegrown seeds.
She said small-scale farmers often rely on informal locally managed seed systems where farmers exchange indigenous seeds with each other.
She said 78 per cent of the seeds planted in Kenya are from informal seed systems. Nasike said President Ruto should amend seed laws preventing smallholder farmers from sharing, selling and exchanging indigenous seeds.
Greenpeace said the government needs to support farmers to access water during the drought periods to enable adequate food production. Agricultural extension services, proper infrastructure and sufficient storage facilities to minimise food wastage "are critical to solving perennial hunger in the country and not GMOs,” Nasike said..
“This World Food Day (October 16), we urge President Ruto to immediately reinstate the ban on GMOs, support farmer managed seed systems and focus on looking for long-term and sustainable solutions food security and productivity," Nasike said.
The Cabinet lifted the 2012 ban on importation of GMOs on October 3 this year to help address a severe food shortage that has left 3.5 million Kenyans in 23 counties on the brink of starvation.
The landmark decision has stirred a storm with opinions sharply divided.
Already 11 lobby groups have questioned the health safety implications of GMO products.
They said concerns raised by Kenyans should be settled first.
In a statement to media houses, the lobby groups want a constructive dialogue with both the public and food safety experts to come up with an informed decision on the matter.
They said lifting the GMO ban was rushed.
The lobbyists want a review of the biosafety policy through a robust monitoring mechanism to aid in redress should the GMO products cause harm to either humans or the environment.
“Economic partnership and technology transfer agreements should be transparent, mutually beneficial and strive to solve the problems of local small-scale farmers.
"They should take into account local socio-economic and socio-political situations rather than advance a colonial multinational profiteering and dumping of goods model,” the lobbyists said.
Kenya is facing one of the worst food crises in decades following four consecutive failed rain seasons. This has pushed more than four million Kenyans to a humanitarian. Hundreds of livestock already have died.
WFP has called for a shift in alternative food-rearing mechanisms including adoption of drought-resistant crops, saying humanitarian assistance will never be enough in Kenya's increasingly dry and drought-prone climate.
WFP programme representative and Kenya country director Lauren Landis also called for water-efficient farming techniques; production of more nutritious crops like high-iron beans; improving postharvest storage and enhancing processing.
She called for improving food safety and establishing better connections to markets so a wide range of fresh foods reach consumers in good condition with the nutrients intact.
(Edited by V. Graham)