Bufordsecurity 
NAIROBI, KENYA (AP) — Food security, consumer rights and biodiversity groups are protesting Kenya’s withdrawal of a ban on genetically engineered foods, key to the East African nation’s economy and security. It states that the general public has not been consulted on the issue.
Kenya’s new president, William Ruto, announced earlier this week that his cabinet had effectively lifted a decade-long ban on openly growing and importing genetically modified crops. and after pressure by the US government, which it claimed would affect food aid.
In a joint statement on Thursday, groups including the Kenya-based Consumer Grassroots Association, Root to Food, Greenpeace Africa and the African Biodiversity Network said the sudden decision was “to make Kenyans choose what they want to eat.” They called for an immediate reinstatement of the ban and a “comprehensive participatory process” to investigate food security issues.
Ruto took office last month on promises of government transparency, the statement said. He also argued that the introduction of genetically modified organisms would hurt the growing organic export market and create an unfair situation for Kenyan farmers, 80% of whom are smallholders.
Agriculture is the main driver of Kenya’s economy, with around 70% of the rural labor force engaged in agriculture. Former Minister of Agriculture Ruto aims to improve agricultural productivity.
“GMOs will endanger our indigenous seeds and plant varieties,” the statement said, noting that national biosafety agencies intended to regulate GMOs were incapable of coping with the spread. The Kenyan cabinet took a limited step in 2019 by approving the commercialization of cotton varieties genetically enhanced to resist the African bollworm moth.
Many African countries have banned genetically modified agriculture amid concerns about its potentially harmful effects on smallholder farmers, existing crops, the environment, and the long-term health of people.
Following Kenya’s decision, neighboring Tanzania’s agriculture minister told local newspaper The Citizen that “special measures will be taken to prevent GM-related seeds from entering the country.”
A spokesman for the Kenyan president did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday’s statement.
