Kenya ready for GMOs, says Biosafety agency

The Cabinet is expected to make a verdict on whether to lift the ban on GMOs that was imposed in 2012 following a controversial study that linked crops developed through the technology to cancer. With continued perennial food shortage the country has been grappling with, all indications are that the Cabinet is likely to give the controversial technology a nod. We spoke to the National Biosafety Authority Chief Executive Officer Prof Dorington Ogoyi.

Is Kenya ready for GMOs?

The National Biosafety Authority (NBA) is charged with regulating GMOs in the country and this is done through laid down legal procedures such as the Biosafety Act. As a regulatory agency, we feel the country is ready. Apart from the regulatory framework, we have a policy statement, and established systems through which these applications are reviewed. Safety to consumers as well as the environment is our number one priority.

Are GMOs the solution to the country’s perennial food shortage?

GMOs are one of the options available. They are just part of the toolkit being used to deal with food insecurity. There are many other technologies so GMO isn’t the only but one of the options.

With an erratic climate, coupled with global food shortages, what should we expect with GMOs?

For all the projects we have, the focus by developers is to address the constraints in productivity. Like with the two leading crops; the BT cotton and Maize, the focus is to address the issue of insect infestation to reduce the losses farmers incur during such attacks.

For instance in cotton, a farmer can lose up to 100 per cent crop in case of ball worm infestation. In this technology, the BT toxin is incorporated in the cotton thereby reducing need to spray insecticides. For the two leading crops, the focus is to reduce insect infestations. For crops such as cassava, we have problems with virus infestation which is being addressed.  For the maize, one of the strategies the applicant has used is to incorporate genes into the maize to allow it to be more tolerant to drought. Depending on the strain, different technologies are used to address the constraints.

We have different phases in development of the technology. The first step is what a scientist does within the lab to proof the concept through experiments. The second step is to take the product to a confined field trial, meaning it is still not ready for the market.

After field trials, using the data collected, the product now moves to the environmental release stage and placement in the market.

The last stage has three clear decision points; food and feed safety has to be assessed, environmental safety has to be assessed as well, and lastly socio- economic consideration that may result from the release of such a product. 

Food and feed safety is a key component for any product that will end with the farmer and in this process, NBA strictly follows established protocol by FAO and WHO.

What is the difference between the conventional seed varieties and the genetically-modified ones in terms of nutritional composition, yield performance and pest tolerance?

The starting point is to compare conventional maize and GMO maize in terms of composition; we look at standard comparisons like carbohydrates, proteins etc. Their whole array of components are analysed to ensure it is substantially equivalent to the conventional plant.

If it is equivalent, the next step is to assess the product against toxins or allergens. A series of tests are conducted to clear any doubts. There are prescribed methods used to confirm this.

There has been a lot of misinformation with regard to Genetically Modified Maize market with regard to safety, what has NBA done to address these concerns?

For the two products we have - BT maize and BT cotton, the process and rigor explained above is what they were subjected to. The data on safety is collected and submitted to the regulator of food and feed safety to evaluate if indeed there are any safety concerns.

The composition analysis for the two products we can confirm is similar to the conventional ones. They contain no toxin, allergen and are safe to the environment. The maize contains the same nutritional value as conventional varieties.

If the ban is lifted, how soon should we expect farmers to start getting access to the seeds?

The process is really long, NBA does its part but we also have to work with institutions such as NEMA, KEPHIS, KEBS, and Ministry of Public health. For the BT cotton, the board gave a nod for a limited environmental release to allow for national performance trials because we still have the ban over our heads.

The national performance trials have been ongoing. The second season which is ongoing will end in September. Once the trial is through, the product will be availed to the farmers if the ban is lifted.

The BT maize is yet to move to the national performance trials yet because we are yet to get environmental release licence from Nema.

GMO crops have in the past been linked to cancer. What is your take on this?

There are many myths and misconceptions about GMOs. We already have many cases of cancer, yet we don’t have any GMOs products in the market. If GMO was causing cancer it would be of great concern to us, NBA’s main mandate is to ensure safety and that human as well as animal health isn’t compromised. If GMO was causing cancer, it would be of great concern to us because we are also Kenyans, we are part of the public.

In the history of GMO globally, there has been no link to cancer. America has used GMO for the last 20 years, if cancer was caused by GMOs, the whole population would be sick.

One of the demands of the law which guides our work is public participation before any environmental release. For the two products we have, the public made their submissions which were taken into account in the decision making processes.

In Kenya, we don’t have any GMOs in the market yet. In the global arena we have four leading GMO crops namely maize, canola, soya beans and cotton. Let no one mislead you.

The law is also clear, all GMO products will be labelled accordingly.