The African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) have worked with the Kenya government and local partners to undertake research and explore commercialization pathways for water-efficient maize varieties (locally known as Drought Tego), hybrid rice and stem-borer-resistant maize varieties, have significantly reduced farmers’ losses.
While a lot of the technologies promoted are conventional, including hybrid rice and striga-resistant maize, a lot of opportunities have emerged in modern biotechnology, especially in transgenic stem-borer-resistant maize and other new-generation technologies such as gene editing that hold the potential to transform agriculture.
Dr. Canisius Kanangire, AATF Executive Director, says that with the global community to which Kenya is a member committed to ending poverty and hunger by 2030, strengthening its food systems is key to ensuring every person can be fed every day, everywhere, with safe, adequate, and nutritious diets.
Speaking during a Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) breakfast and awareness meeting for CEOs in the industry, Dr. Kanangire noted that farmers and food production systems are facing numerous challenges, including climate-induced effects on water resources, insect pest pressure, and increased disease burden across crops and value chains.
In Kenya, he noted that food insecurity is a recurring issue, with an estimated 4.4 million people facing high levels of acute food insecurity in the arid and semi-arid regions.
This, Dr. Kanangire added, is a daunting task, but was optimistic that it is not unachievable with the new technologies in place that can help food systems become more sustainable and efficient.
“The 2022 World Economic Forum highlighted that the agricultural sector in general has fallen behind in technology adoption compared to other sectors”, he said, adding that investments in modern agricultural technologies can cut farmers’ losses to pests and diseases.
Technology adoption, the Executive Director said, can also increase resilience against climate variability and guarantee an adequate return on investment, thus strengthening the case for agriculture as a business.
Conscient of the critical role of a supportive policy environment for the development, deployment, and commercialization of technologies, Dr. Kanangire said that it is notable that with all new and emerging technologies, progress will be made in incremental steps, as has been the case in Kenya with the biotechnology policy environment, especially for the regulation of genetically modified crops.
“The lifting of the ban on GMOs in late 2022 and the subsequent engagements that followed are an example of the realities of the need for technologies to address food production challenges and the commitment to navigate the complex environment characterised by inadequate scientific understanding, inadequate access to information and misinformation, not-enough evidence-based policy making, and politics, among other challenges”, he said.
Dr. Kanangire said that AATF and partners are committed to leading efforts to foster a more constructive dialogue between scientists, journalists, policymakers, the private sector, and civil society about the potential of safe, effective, and affordable technologies, including GM crops, to deliver significant benefits for African farmers.
Prof. Richard Oduor, Chairman of the Kenya University Biotechnology Consortium (KUBICO), acknowledged the misconceptions about GM technologies, saying it was time to change the GMO narrative in the face of climate change.
“We need stakeholders’ participation from the farmers, extension officers, and opinion leaders. Scientists should move from the laboratory and take the discussions on GM to farmers and stakeholders using deliberate and robust programmes in different languages and channels that will penetrate the intended audience for the correct message to be conveyed,” he said.
He reiterated that scientists also need to be trained on how to unpack the messages and that they should allow other platforms to talk to farmers since there has been a big gap between scientists and farmers.
Prof. Oduor, who is an Associate Professor and Director of Research Support and Dissemination at Kenyatta University, said they are looking forward to the day that the ban on GM will be out of court and urged judges and lawyers to hasten their steps to fast track the matters pending on GM in courts.
Prof. Joel Ochieng, leader of Agricultural Biotechnology (BT) at the University of Nairobi, said GMO technology was developed to improve food productivity at the farm level and enhance food safety.
“The specificity is BT maize that deals with stem borer pests that will save farmer losses caused in production and also be able to give the country stability considering that Kenya is food insecure and any slight losses interfering with food systems is not good,” he added.
He explained that Kenya, through the Biosafety Law that governs GM, has in place a labelling regulation that would ensure all GM products are labelled to allow traceability of a product and allow consumers to make informed choices.
“I hope that extension services are strong enough to make farmers aware of what products are available, the advantages of traditional varieties, and whether there is consistent and persistent training for the farmers to understand GMO matters,” Dr. Ochieng said.
He confirmed that they are currently working with the county systems on how to reach farming communities, keep them informed, and provide continuous education, and that they have already agreed on modalities and are rolling out the process soon.
“Farmers training is not a one-off but a continuous exercise that should be supported by the government, and production development should be in tandem with it. We are waiting for the court process to be completed so that we can roll out the process,” Dr. Ochieng said.
The CEOs meeting was taking place even as other agriculture sector players were gathering at Windsor Golf Club for the Agricultural Biennial Bioscience Communication (ABBC) symposium that seeks to address Africa’s quest to address food insecurity, feed its people, and improve the livelihoods of its farmers, most of them smallholder farmers.
Late last year, Kenya lifted a ban on the cultivation and importation of genetically modified crops, a decision that was welcomed by scientists who see GM crops as the answer to food security. However, in November last year, the High Court temporarily suspended the government’s plan to allow the importation and distribution of GM foods pending the determination of a lawsuit by some lobby groups opposed to the lifting of the ban.
By Wangari Ndirangu
