Scientists, MP want State to lift ban on GMO foods

By ROSELYNE OBALA

Siaya County: A group of scientists and a legislator have urged the Government to lift the ban on Genetically Modified (GM) foods to address food insecurity in the country.

They took issue with the task force formed to look into the safety of GM foods, arguing that it is a ploy to delay abolishing the ban.

The researchers and Ugunja MP James Wandayi said Kenyans are continuing to grapple with food shortage yet they can device other methods to ensure the country is food secure.

They faulted the formation of a task force following concerns over safety of GM foods and called for its disbandment.

Gazette notice

“The Government should instead reconstitute the task force afresh through Parliament,” said Mr Wandayi.

The MP and scientists from universities and research institutions said a gazette notice cannot put aside the National Biosafety Authority (NBA), which is the lead regulatory agency for GM products.

Recently, a report released by the Food and Agricutural Organistaion (FAO) 2013 on the state of food insecurity in Kenya indicated the situation has worsened from 1992 when only 8.4 million Kenyans were affected.

Though there have been considerable efforts by the Government to reduce the number, the report notes the progress is not sufficient for Kenya to attain the millennium development goal of halving this number by 2015.

FAO Kenya Food Analyst Simon Muhindi explained that while food production had increased in parts of the country, many people go without food.

The scientists argue that with the lifting of the ban on GM foods, Kenyans will be able to address the perennial food shortage. Wandayi said the provisions in the Biosafety Act, whose origin is Parliament, cannot be overturned by the gazette notice, which is a subsidiary legislation.

He therefore termed the gazettement of the task force as illegal because the matter was not brought before MPs.

TASK FORCE

“The NBA was established through an Act of Parliament following the enactment of the Biosafety Act in 2009,” he said, adding that already there is an elaborate Biosafety law passed in Parliament. The task force was appointed by Health Cabinet Secretary James Macharia through a gazette notice dated October 11, 2013.

The Coordinator, Centre for Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, University of Nairobi James Ochanda said the task force needed more than the three months to undertake its mandate.

“The terms of reference for the task force entails a lot, and the team cannot probe and compile a comprehensive report within three months,” Prof Ochanda noted.