By Dann Okoth

Are Genetically Modified Organisms or GMOs the panacea for food security and poverty alleviation in the country?

A new study shows poorer countries are growing GMOs to their benefit, while controversy continues over the technology in Kenya.

A new report released by the International Service for Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) claims that some developing countries have surpassed industrialised nations in growing Genetically Modified (GM) crops, contributing to food security and poverty alleviation in some of the world’s most vulnerable regions.

It says developing nations planted 52 per cent of the global biotech crops last year, up from 50 per cent a year earlier and above the 48 per cent industrial countries grew in 2011.

GMOS are organisms whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. GMOs are also widely used in scientific research to produce goods other than food.

In Kenya, a government ban on importation and consumption of GMOs has thrown the technology in the country in disarray even though Kenya is considered the most technologically advanced in the region on issues of biotechnology.

The country already has a Bio-safety Act and a National Bio-safety Authority to regulate the sector.

Observers argue that research on GMOs is at an advanced stage in Kenya and that the technology could help increase the current maize output by between 25-30 per cent if correctly applied.

The country currently produces 25 million bags of maize per year against a demand of 40 million bags.

Hard work

But the adoption of the technology has been characterized by controversies over safety issues, the latest being triggered by a recent French Scientific research.

The Seralini report, which has since been disproved by the global scientific community and the French Academy of Sciences as lacking in scientific procedures, claimed consumption of GMOs could cause cancer.

Subsequently, Kenya banned the importation, and consumption of the products in the country in December pending investigations into safety issues associated with the products.

However, stakeholders in the Agri-biotech sector had furnished the government with all the information regarding the safety of the technology and scientists were optimistic the ban would soon be lifted. “As far as we are concerned the ban is temporary setback and would soon be lifted.

The Cabinet may have relied on the findings on the French research findings in imposing the ban, which has since been disproved by the scientific community,” explained Dr Margaret Karembu, the Director of ISAAA Africenter in Nairobi.

She admits the ban may have sent the wrong signals among the scientific community in the region.

“Many countries in the region look to Kenya for leadership in the technology owing to the country’s advanced technical research capabilities and the ban sent a wrong signal,” Karembu says.

Other stakeholders feel the Bio-safety Act should be fully operationalised to safeguard consumers as well as fast-track the adoption of the technology.

According Prof James Ochanda from Centre for Biotechnology and Bioinformatics at the College of Biological and Physical Sciences at the University of Nairobi, both NBA and the Kenya Bureau of Standards lack the capacity to test for Genetically Modified materials because both institutions do not have the infrastructure and expertise.

“These institutions lack the equipment and experts to test these materials, the Government needs to adequately fund the NBA to enable it employ experts and purchase equipment to enable it properly regulate the sector,” Prof Ochanda says.

He observes that the debate surrounding GMOs has often focused on food products and plant materials, but this new technology is used in broader fields, including medicine.

“The safety issues have often revolved around food products but production of vaccines such as the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine, which prevents young girls from contracting cervical cancer and the BCG vaccine against tuberculosis where the technology is applied is never mentioned,” he says.

He contends that Kenya has invested heavily in the technology adding the country is at an advanced stage in developing GMO based HIV vaccine.

Prof Stephen Ngure Mugo, a senior scientist and maize breeder at International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre says a controlled open field trial for various GM maize varieties were ongoing in various parts of the country.