News in brief: Kenya Court of Appeal upholds the temporary ban on GM crops. The decision follows a legal battle between small-scale farmers and the government, with concerns about the safety of GM foods, potential impacts on indigenous seeds and foreign interests.
Kenya’s Court of Appeal has upheld a temporary ban on genetically modified (GM) crops initially placed by the country’s high court in 2022. Last year, the court suspended government plans to import and distribute the crops.
On the other side of the latest lawsuit was the Kenyan Peasants League, a group that represents small-scale farmers. The group’s argument was that the William Ruto-led administration used unlawful means to lift an initial 10-year ban on GM crops, including not engaging the public in the decision as the constitution demanded. They simply wanted the ban reinstated.
The initial ban was put in place in 2012 by the country’s cabinet. However, the basis for the ban is a debunked study by Gilles-Eric Séralini linking GM foods to cancer in rats. The research publisher also retracted the study a year later.
Despite the controversial background, the ban has remained in place until Ruto’s attempt. The farmers’ lobby group claim that GM foods put consumers at risk, especially those with low incomes.
The Kenya Appeal Court’s ruling means that future genetically modified crops activities in Kenya will depend on the High Court decision. As a coverage by The Africa Report shows, there are political undertones to the matter.
For example, the founder of Grow Biointensive Agriculture Center of Kenya (G-BIACK), Samwel Nderitu, complained that introducing GM crops will ‘kill’ indigenous seeds while benefitting foreign companies.
Meanwhile, President William Ruto argues that the crops are the way out of food insecurity which plagues more than 4 million citizens. Also, with the country experiencing drought, he believes that genetically modified crops will stand a better chance of surviving the soil condition. He dismissed health concerns about them by citing countries like US and South Africa where the citizens consume GM foods and are doing well.
It is important to note that the GM crops are part of a US-Kenya bilateral trade plan.
