Controversy stalks adoption of GMOs depite experts' assurance

Activists, scientists and farmers protest in Nairobi on September 17, 2015, against lifting the ban on BT maize. [File, Standard]

The BT maize variety at the centre of heated conversations could be unprecedented in the country, but the technology is not entirely new, especially in the West.

The current debate was sparked by an announcement by the National Biosafety Authority (NBA) that, in collaboration with the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation and the African Agricultural Technology Foundation, it had received an application for the open cultivation and commercialisation of BT maize.

The agency stated that the variety is designed to resist destructive pests like maize stem borers and fall armyworms, offering farmers the potential for increased yields, better grain quality and reduced reliance on insecticides.

But NBA stated that comprehensive safety assessment was underway to ensure the BT maize was safe for human and animal consumption, and did not pose risks to the environment.

BT is one of the many technologies applied in the production of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Eric Ngure, an ecologist, says although BT maize was produced in a bid to counter pests and diseases, the bacteria used in the modification may be a risk to human health.

“The advantage is that it is pest-resistant, hence farmers won’t have to buy pesticides. But we don’t know the long-term effects of taking those bacteria into our system.”

A 2018 study revealed that BT maize varieties also protect nearby non-BT crops from pests. This is what many opponents of GMOs have been fearing - that they may affect non-GMO varieties grown by farmers who may not be ready to adopt the technology.

Ngure says with genetic engineering of maize seeds, the country’s seed sovereignty could be compromised. “Traditional maize has been lost. GMO are compromising food sovereignty.”

He is calling on the government to emphasise on a gene bank - a silo that keeps all indigenous seeds.

GMOs were banned in 2012 under President Mwai Kibaki, a ban that was upheld by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

To achieve food security, some experts say crop production must increase ideally through increases in crop yields. However, although crop yields are increasing on a global scale, farmland area is expanding through deforestation, which increases greenhouse gas emissions, destroys wildlife habitats and reduces crucial ecosystem.

An important staple food throughout Eastern and Southern Africa, maize has been a primary focus of agricultural research. But despite the development of higher yielding varieties and improved cultivation methods, Kenya is yet to attain self-sufficiency in the crop’s production and is a regular importer and a recipient of food aid.

Production relies primarily on smallholder, rain-fed agriculture that uses minimal inputs and open-pollinated varieties of seed. This system is common in the densely populated areas of the central highlands, eastern coastal areas and Nyanza.

Large-scale maize production, characterised by monocultures of hybrid seed purchased each season, is only common in parts of the Rift Valley and Western. 

The history of GM crops in Kenya dates back over 20 years ago when research on BT cotton started. The approval of BT cotton, which is now commercialised, and BT maize has faced delays due to a 10-year ban on GMOs and subsequent court cases challenging the lifting of the ban.

 According to experts, these delays have had economic repercussions and have hindered progress in agricultural innovation.