Many Parliamentarians have lately been calling on the government to lift a ban on genetically modified foods. They have, in the recent six months been joined by some governors. The justification is the food deficiency facing our country. The questions are as simple as these: do we want to deny the farmer the right to decide what to plant, when to plant and the quantity to plant? Do we want to force upon the consumer what to consume, even in the face of scientific evidence of the health dangers associated with genetic modification of food crops? Do we want a few corporations to monopolise the global food supply? If the answer is yes, we should welcome the push by some leaders to end the ban on commercial planting of a GM crop in Kenya. If the answer is no, we should vehemently oppose it. The principal promotional effort of the genetic engineering industry is to distract us from these questions.
In a carefully crafted communication, misinformation and disinformation strategy, the corporate promoters have succeeded in portraying those opposed to GM technology as ignorant technophobics dangerously standing in the way between humanity and our universal solution to global food security problem. They have presented anti-GMO crusaders as scaremongers stifling the development of biotechnology. Nothing can be further from the truth. I am one of those strongly opposed to the introduction of GMOs in this country. That does not mean that I detest biotechnology. On the contrary, I believe in continuous ethical research and application of biotechnology to improve the quality and quantity of food and commercial crops. For example, all the hybrid crops we have used in this country, including the famed Katumani maize variety, have met no opposition. These are cases of biotechnology in service of life.
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