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NEWS & CURRENT AFFAIRS

The Nairobian

Let's be factual about GM crops in the pursuit of food security

Opinion

By Joel Ochieng | Mar 09, 2025

**Dr James Karanja, Principal Investigator of TELA Maize Project shows the production of GMO maize** **under research at Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Organization (KALRO), Kiboko in Makueni County.** [Nanjinia Wamuswa, Standard]

Maize is Kenya’s staple food, yet its annual production consistently falls short of demand, hindered by degraded soils, limited access to improved seeds, and the devastating impact of pests and diseases.

This has resulted in an annual maize deficit of 1.2 million metric tonnes, threatening food security. Genetically Modified crops (GMOs) offer a potential solution to these challenges. In Kenya, two locally developed Bt maize varieties are poised to address these issues: one is already approved for cultivation, offering protection against the destructive stem borer pest, while the other, with dual protection against stem borer and fall armyworm, is being reviewed for National Performance Trial. These varieties are developed using a gene from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) proteins that target specific insect pests.

In adopting Bt maize, (1) farm level losses from severe pest damage will be eliminated, so is the continuous pesticide spray by farmers, which is harmful to health and that of the environment, and associated costs of buying the pesticides. (2) Food safety is improved when the maize is protected from pests that usually provide an entry point for fungal infection that cause aflatoxin in maize.

One recent misinformation claims that cultivation of Bt maize exposes people to glyphosate, and that some allergies were possible as well as the rise of herbicide-resistant weeds.

The most cited study linking Roundup with tumours in rats is the Seralini et al, 2012 (Food Chem Toxicol), concluding that tumours in rats were caused by the glyphosate that makes up the ‘Roundup ready’ herbicide, and not the maize.

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The publication has since been retracted (withdrawn) due to a discovery of errors, and republished in another journal to keep memory of methodological mistakes to guide future research.

In 2015, Seralini and co-authors made a discovery – that tumours observed in 2012 were not occasioned by either Roundup or GMO maize, but by environmental contaminants in the animal feed used in their earlier experiment (PLOS ONE 10(7): e0128429).

Roundup herbicide (which carries glyphosate) is NOT applied to Bt crops. It is used with roundup tolerant maize (another GMO variety), all about weed control. Roundup tolerant maize has never been grown in Kenya and has not been developed for cultivation here.

However, Roundup-ready herbicide has been on sale in Kenya for decades and abusively used before planting on non-GMO fields to control weeds.

Dozens of credible studies, including a 2012 PLoS ONE 7(5): e36141, and 2016 BMC Immunology 17:10, on long term immune and allergenic responses as well as the fate of cry1Ab gene and Bt toxins, all conclude that the Bt products have no long term or short term effect.

Concerns regarding seed control have been raised, fearing that multinational companies could control seed systems when Bt maize is commercialised.

We clarify that the two maize varieties awaiting farm deployment in Kenya have been developed locally through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and the seeds will be controlled through the normal seed regulations pursuant to the existing legal framework in Kenya.

Further, issues of patent do not arise as the technology was donated royalty-fee. With the Biosafety Act (No. 2 of 2009) as the primary legislation regulating all matters related to GMO and their products, together with four (4) implementing regulations and establishment of the National Biosafety Authority to regulate GMO, we are confident of the country’s capacity to manage the development, local cultivation, and placement onto the market of GMO products.

Before a GMO product is approved for cultivation, it undergoes a series of rigorous tests for safety and assessed for social impact. In line with national laws, introduction of these crops into the environment (open cultivation) follows scientific assessments as well as public participation. Embracing safe and profitable technologies will drive millions of farmers to higher productivity.

Further, with Kenya’s historical emergency food assistance, aid organisations such as the World Food Programme will find it easier to source food and other products from more logistically convenient markets.