The government is set to popularise genetically modified organisms (GMOs) even as debate on the impact of the food on consumers and the environment rages on.
Agriculture permanent secretary Romano Kiome said on Tuesday that public institutions will join hands in educating farmers on benefits of genetic engineering.
The institutions include universities, Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service, and individual crop research entities. Dr Kiome said researchers' failure to explain to farmers how biotechnology has improved national food outlook elsewhere had left them confused by the debate on the safety of GM foods. "If people are accused of promoting science let's stand accused," Dr Kiome said in Nairobi yesterday at the launch of the national seed policy.
He said that it was unwise for a country which values development to lag in science. A law that permits genetic engineering, the National Biosafety Act, was enacted earlier this year.
"Our scientists must now come forward and prove to the public that GM foods are just like any normal food," said Agriculture assistant minister Gideon Ndambuki.
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The National Seed Policy identifies modern biotechnology as one of the pillars of food security. The country has set up the National Biosafety Authority, an agency charged with vetting and licensing importation, production, and exportation of GM materials. However, a recent move by the Cabinet to allow millers to import GM maize as a short term measure to boost grain supply in the face of hunger has elicited sharp reaction from various interest groups. Some politicians have threatened to lead their constituents in boycotting GM food imports. Agriculture minister Sally Kosgei will give a ministerial statement on the country's preparedness for GM food next week.
"The advice that I get from all these institutions which are funded by taxpayers' money is that the country is ripe for biotechnology," said Dr Kiome.
On Tuesday, the Consumers Federation of Kenya (Cofek) said GM foods should be banned in Kenya and the EAC region. The group, however, said it would support importation of the GM maize as a stop gap measure to alleviate the plight of those faced with death from starvation. "If GM maize is the only solution needed to save the lives of those dying from hunger, we have no problem with importation of the same for emergency response," said Cofek executive officer Edwin Wanjawa.
At a recent media briefing in Nairobi, molecular geneticist Ricarda Steinbrecher said no side effects have been recorded on humans for using GM foods.
Negative outcomes
The concerns, Dr Ricarda said, largely arise from negative outcomes during trials with animals. Among other side effects, feeding trials on animals have shown evidence of inflammation, ulcerations, and excessive growth of the stomach and gut lining.
They have also recorded disturbance of liver, pancreas and kidney function; disturbance of testes function; and alteration in levels of red blood cells.
Most recently, such trials have uncovered altered body weight, allergy, and immune responses in animals.
"As long as the staple food is GM, there is real concern that these documented side effects could soon be seen in humans," said Dr Steinbrecher.
She said scientists conducting GM research had no control on where the planted gene inserts itself within an already stable system of cells, resulting in random genetic integration.
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