President William Ruto on Monday lifted the 10-year-long ban on import and cultivation of genetically modified organism (GMO) white maize.
He said this will help feed the drought-stricken counties where more than four million people are on the brink of starvation.
“By dint of the executive action, open cultivation and importation of White (GMO) maize is now authorized,” he said.
“The move is part of the medium- to long-term responses to the ongoing drought, and a progressive step towards significantly redefining agriculture in Kenya by adopting crops that are resistant to pests and disease,” Ruto said.
Dr Murenga Mwimali, a maize breeder from the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (Kalro) said the national research body is trying to develop maize that is drought-tolerant and resistant to disease.
He said the GM maize is resistant to common stem borers in Kenya and tolerant to drought.
Research was carried out under the Water Efficient Maize for Africa Project, known as the TELA maize project.
“These experiments were carried out intensively in Kitale and Kiboko field trial sites," Mwimali said.
They have now been moved to National Performance Trial testing and released by the competent authorities. They include the the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate (Kephis), National Biosafety Authority (NBA) and the Ministry of Agriculture. among others, he said.
“Scientists have done their part and all the science has been done, proved and the data is available,” Murenga said.
The decision to lift the ban follows a Cabinet decision on December 19, 2019, regarding the commercialisation of Bacillus Thuringiensis (Bt) cotton hybrids in Kenya.
Bt cotton is a genetically enhanced variety resistant to African bollworm, which is the most destructive and pervasive pest in cotton farming.
Director Dr Margaret Karembu of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) Africentre said the GMO ban was effected by the Kenya Cabinet decision following a publication by French scientist Prof Gilles-Eric Séralini.
On September 19, 2012, Prof Séralini of the University of Caen in Normandy, published in the Journal of Food and Chemical Toxicology an article describing a two-year GMO study.
In the study, rats had been fed genetically modified glyphosate-tolerant NK603 maize.
“The authors reported that some of the rats developed cancerous tumors. They consequently used this single study to call for a review of the safety of GMOs,” Karembu said.
She is the chairperson Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB) Kenya.
“Multiple scientific bodies and scientists across the globe reviewed the findings of this study and questioned its objectives, methodology and design," Karembu said.
"They found the study deficient, inconsistent with internationally prescribed methodology and divergent from two decades of research that supports the current regulatory approach to reviewing GMO safety,” she said.
Karembu said the scientifically flawed study was used to stir negative publicity against GMOs that in Kenya culminated in the ban.
In Africa, GM crops have been cultivated for 25 years in South Africa. Over the years, Nigeria, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Malawi and now Kenya have joined in the cultivation.
So far, GM crops being commercially cultivated in Africa are Bt cotton, Bt maize, Bt cowpeas and Bt/HT soybeans.
Joel Ochieng, leader of Agricultural Biotechnology Programme at the University of Nairobi said lifting of GMO ban is set to lower food prices and stabilise the economy.
He said a study by UoN in 2016-17 showed the ban had a devastating effect on food security (food prices, safety, supply), loss of government revenue and research and training partnerships and grants.
Ochieng said the study showed the ban on GM foods severely affected sources of raw materials for most large-scale millers and manufacturers (60 per cent) who had to cope with highly escalated prices of raw materials.
The ban resulted in increased food prices, either moderately or severely (40 per cent), he said. As a consequence, most of the millers operated at below 30 per cent capacity and had to also reorganise their human resources as a result of the ban.
The biotechnology scientist said the maize is Kenya's main staple, grown by more than 90 per cent of Kenya’s 3.5 million small-scale farmers.
However, the annual maize production consistently falls below consumption, despite the rising population. Underlying factors include soil acidification.
“This is due to continuous multi-year use of Diamonium Phosphate (DAP) fertiliser, lack of access to improved seeds, and the impact of maize lethal necrosis disease (MLND)," Ochieng said.
"Kenya currently faces an annual deficit of 1.2 million metric tonnes. Without aggressive change in the agriculture sector, as Kenya’s population and the demand for maize increase, the deficit in maize production is projected to grow each year.”
Ochieng said this deficit necessitates frequent imports to supplement local production.
“With declining regional and worldwide sources of non-GM grains, the ban restricted the sources of grain imports for the manufacturing and milling sector," he said.
"The grain available in the country, and also from Tanzania and Uganda, especially maize, is often of low quality, contaminated with high levels of aflatoxins mainly due to improper drying and storage,” the scientist said.
The survey found that much of the maize from local farmers is wet, diseased, rotten, and contains high levels of aflatoxins. Therefore, he said, millers rely on imported grain to maintain safety standards.
According to the study, this presents not only an opportunity to invest in imports but also in proper drying and storage facilities.
It further avails an opportunity for bio-innovation in farm level approaches that reduce aflatoxin.
The scientist said Kenya has one of the world’s highest population growth rates, with a projected population increase from the current 46.8 million to 97.2 million people by 2050.
The population in rural areas is expected to rise by 52 per cent, placing serious burdens on land, other natural resources, food supply and employment.
“This population explosion is driving food demand, particularly for maize. The steadily increasing population, and the declining and variable agricultural environments witnessed recently necessitates a paradigm shift in agricultural systems,” he said.
“Bioinnovation has offered climate resilience and biological robustness to crops, and is a potential pathway out of poverty and malnutrition for millions of households,” Ochieng said.
(Edited by V. Graham)
