NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 4 – The government has lifted the ban on Genetically Modified Crops following a Cabinet meeting chaired by President William Ruto.
Consequently, the Cabinet approved the cultivation and importation of White GMO maize.
“Cabinet considered a broad array of proposals touching on climate change adaptation,” read part of a dispatch from State House.
The ban on GMO imports was enforced in 2012 following a presidential decree by the late former President Mwai Kibaki.
The decree followed recommendations by the then Minister for Public Health Beth Mugo who cited a study by a French University that linked cancer in rats to the consumption of GM foods.
The findings of the research were also backed by the Kenya Medical Research Institute.
The United States government in April 2022 protested Kenya’s reluctance to lift the ban with the Joe Biden administration noting that the move was restricting its exports.
There has been an endless ongoing debate on the safety of GMO crops.
The move comes at a time when Kenya is facing a serious drought crisis.
According to government estimates, 3.5 million Kenyans are severely affected by the crisis with the figure projected to rise. 23 counties are experiencing drought.
President Ruto who on September 26, 2022, flagged off relief aid to the affected regions pledged that his administration will end the perennial drought situation in the country.
“This is our bigger plan of ensuring that Kenya becomes a food secure nation,” he said.
According to research, irrigated agriculture is, on average, at least twice as productive per unit of land as rain-fed agriculture, thereby allowing for more production intensification and crop diversification.
The Cabinet also sanctioned plans to reduce Kenya’s reliance on rain-fed agriculture by increasing irrigation-based agriculture.
