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When
Kenya began its first open field trials for the insect resistant
transgenic maize seed early on this year, it was hailed as a landmark scientific
move in addressing the needs of the people.
It
was a historic undertaking to sow the first insect resistant genetically
modified (GM) maize seeds in an open quarantine site at Kenya Agricultural
Research Institute (KARI), Kiboko station, a few kilometers out of Nairobi after
dedicating more than five years to the seed’s development.
Dr.
Romano Kiome, director of KARI, said then that the move was a major score in
using science to address the needs of the people, and the institution will be
steadfast in its endeavors to serve mankind.
Halted
Progress
But
this experiment on stem borer resistant GM maize was thrown into quandary when
in the month of August the government halted it. The Kenya Plant Health
Inspectorate Services (KEPHIS) was ordered by the National Biosafety Committee
on August 25 to supervise destruction.
The
open field planting of GM maize in Kenya
was the only such move in sub-Saharan Africa, apart from South Africa, and was also to be the first in a series of confined field trials.
Kenya
stepped to the forefront of African agricultural biotechnology when President
Mwai Kibaki inaugurated a “level II biosafety greenhouse” to allow
containment of GM crops at the experiment stage in June 2004. The US $12 million
greenhouse signaled the country’s commitment to GM crops.
In
stopping the experiment the government, through Agricultural Secretary Dr.
Wilson Songa, who is also the chairman of National Biosafety Committee,
cautioned researchers against succumbing to pressures from international
organizations at the expense of standard and safety.
At
the heart of the matter is the lack of legal framework to mitigate any risks
that would enter the food chain and hurt consumers because of the technology
used. “The fact that we do not have an enabling legal framework to
fall back on should anything nasty happen, should be reason enough for us to be
extra vigilant on biosafety,” Songa said.
Nairobi-based
environmental lawyer Odhiambo MakOloo concurs and says the country is yet to
enact laws to deal with genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Allowing
the experiment to continue without the necessary laws, MakOloo states, means consenting to an illegality to take place in the agricultural research
domain.
MakOloo
maintains that in the absence of legal framework to regulate GMO issues,
proceeding with the experiment could be dangerous to both human beings and the
environment on which they depend for existence, without any legal recourse
should the experiment go wrong.
“These
are scientific technologies with far-reaching implications and we have to be
careful when embracing them and there is need for legal framework before
introduction,” he said.
According
to International Food Policy Research Institute, only South Africa and Nigeria
have a specific policy for biotechnology development and application. Also,
South Africa is the only country on the continent that has a functional biosafety regulatory
system. Countries like Zambia
and Zimbabwe have outrightly rejected GM foods.
Improvement
or Risk?
Experiments
with the insect resistant maize had been taking place at KARI
Biotechnology Center in a biosafety greenhouse, but it was only in May 2005 that the
biotechnology-derived maize was being planted outdoors for the first time.
The
Kiboko station trials were being undertaken by the Insect Resistant Maize for
Africa (IRMA) project, a joint research project of KARI and the International
Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the tie being supported by the
Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture and the Rockefeller Foundation.
The
trials, according to IRMA project manager and CIMMYT maize breeder Dr. Stephen
Mugo, were to be used to determine the effectiveness—under field
conditions—of the insect resistant maize against stem borers in Kenya. The plants were also to be crossed with Kenyan maize lines as part of a
breeding process that will produce Bt maize (genetically modified) varieties
adapted to Kenyan growing conditions.
Kiome,
director of KARI, said the planting of these trials was part of an innovative
approach to help Kenyan farmers fight stem borers, which have become a big
menace in the maize growing areas and cause losses of approximately 400,000
tonnes of maize annually.
This
directly translates to reduced food security and farm incomes. Indeed, this is
close to the total amount of maize imported by Kenya annually. It is against this background that KARI and CIMMYT have strived to
develop maize varieties resistant to stem borers.
But
with the government stopping the experiment, it seems that embracing the
controversial GMO technological advancements in agriculture may be a little bit
far from being realized in Kenya soon.
International
Collaborators Pushing for Research
The
government says Kenyan researchers must not yield to pressures from
international collaborators who are pushing to secure approvals for their
research projects while sidestepping required safety procedures.
According
to Agricultural Secretary Songa, a dangerous tendency is emerging among the
Kenyan scientific community to acquiesce to pressure from international
collaborators without due regard to procedures.
The
Bt maize researchers, Songa said, did not conduct an environmental impact
assessment of the biosafety glasshouse where the maize seeds are grown. This is
a direct contradiction to the assertion made by the principal investigator, Dr.
Simon Gichuki, that these confined field trials were conducted strictly in
accordance with the terms proscribed by KEPHIS and KARI, and National Biosafety
Committees.
The
open quarantine site where the confined trials were to be conducted, Gichuki
insisted, was built to specification and included many biosafety and security
measures to ensure genetic and material confinement within the OQS. This meant
that no pollen, seed, or other plant material would escape the trial area or
cross inadvertently with maize not included in the experiments. This way, none
of the material from the OQS was to enter the maize reproductive and food and
feed pathways before authorization by the Kenyan regulatory system.
Why
Should We Embrace GMOs?
Embracing
GM cops is touted by proponents as a possible answer to Africa’s perennial food shortage that leads to the death of millions of people
annually.
Reasons
advanced include contributing to increased farm income without major change in
productivity, like the insect resistant cotton in South Africa; ensuring sustainable soil fertility with improved nitrogen fixation; and
addressing major productivity constraints such as drought and development of
herbicide and pest resistant transgenic plants, among others.
But
those on the opposing side have been harping on environmental contamination, the
safety of food items produced, potential for concentration of too much power in
the hands of a few multinationals, and finance credit issues for producers.
Of
further concern was the revelation that a technician sprayed the Bt corn with
restricted Furadan, a chemical that also acts on stem borers, thus rendering the
test pointless.
According
to IRMA and CIMMYT’s Mugo, the move by the government was unfortunate and a
serious slowdown to the development of stem borer resistant Bt corn. He,
however, says they will not give up until they find a solution to the stem borer
menace, which exacts huge losses to African maize farmers annually.
**Ochieng’
Ogodo is a Nairobi-based journalist whose works have been published in
various countries in Africa, the US and Europe. He can be reached at ogodo16@hotmail.com.
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