Minister on the spot over biotech foods
What you need to know:
- He lamented that donors and other partners in the biotechnology sector are shying away due to the ban on GMO foods, which has meant that findings of field trials cannot be put into practice.
Scientists from local universities want the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Mr James Macharia, compelled to release findings of a taskforce on the health effects of GM foods.
Kenya University Biotech Consortium Secretary Joel Ochieng said it is improper that the government is yet to release the report over four months after the team completed its work.
The taskforce, chaired by Prof Kihumbu Thairu, handed its report to Mr Macharia in July after which it was forwarded it to Cabinet for review.
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“The government must release the findings so that we can chart the next course of action instead of leaving us in suspense,” said Dr Ochieng.
He lamented that donors and other partners in the biotechnology sector are shying away due to the ban on GMO foods, which has meant that findings of field trials cannot be put into practice.
“It is sad that the government is allocating resources and even sponsoring students to pursue biotechnology courses in universities yet it has failed to recognise the outcome of the same technology,” lamented Dr Ochieng, a senior research fellow at the University of Nairobi.
Researchers who spoke during a forum on biotechnology development in Kenya claimed they were aware that the taskforce recommended that the ban be upheld.
The government banned importation of GM food in November 2012, following global debates on its safety, with unproven claims that it increases chances of getting cancer.
