Kenyan scientist Florence Wambugu on the benefits of GM technology

Dr. Florence Wambugu, head of the Africa Harvest Biotech Foundation, talked to John Mbaria on the benefits of GM technology.

Question : Is there anything wrong with Kenyans growing and consuming genetically modified crops?

Answer : If and when Kenyans start growing and consuming GM crops, they will have joined millions already doing so. According to the UN's FAO and WHO, foods derived from approved biotech crops are as safe, or safer, for humans than conventional or organic foods. They are stringently tested and regulated for human safety. They have the potential to provide major health benefits for humans, including more nutrients, better tastes and lower potential to cause allergies.

Farmers in Kenya will benefit through increased choice and flexibility in cropping systems; increased profitability through improved yields; produce-quality and tolerance to stress factors, and new value-added crops offering new market opportunities.

The impact on incomes from farms in the GM adopting countries is well documented. For instance, in 2005, the direct farm income benefit was about $5 billion. Clearly, farmers would not be adopting GM crops if there were no economic benefits. Indeed, the train has already left the station, it is not a matter of whether, but when Kenyans begin planting and consuming these crops.

Q : What are the strengths and weaknesses in the Biosafety Bill?

A : The Bill will bring Kenya's law in line with the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, which the country has signed and ratified. Its objectives are to ensure an adequate level of protection in the field of safe transfer, handling and use of genetically modified organisms resulting from modern biotechnology that may have an adverse effect on the environment and to establish a transparent and predictable process to review and make decisions on such genetically modified organisms and related activities. It deals with applications for contained use, field trials, exportation and importation and placement on the market.

The Bill will establish a National Biosafety Authority to administer the Act and we understand that the membership of the Authority will comprise representatives of the National Environment Management Authority, the Kenya Bureau of Standards, the National Council for Science and Technology, the Department of Veterinary Services, the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service, the Ministries of Finance and Science and Technology, among others.

My opinion is that the government is moving in the right direction in enacting a law on GMOs. But while it is important and urgent to have legislation to govern this sector, we must have laws designed to create a vibrant science and technology sector in Kenya.

Q : The Kenya Agricultural Research Institute is today carrying out GM maize trials on some of its stations. Do you foresee any danger of the pollen contaminating traditional maize varieties?

A : Genes did not learn to fly because of the GM technology. Plants have been exchanging genes since time immemorial. The question is whether genes from transgenic crops transferred to weedy species have an adverse effect. This is a subject of much debate. So far, however, over one million acres of commercial GM crops are planted and there has been no adverse ecological effects.

Q : There are claims that food relief such as maize from the US and elsewhere is genetically modified. Is this true?

A : The US is the largest food donor. Most of the maize grown there is genetically modified. During times of food shortage, many starving nations in Africa receive GM food. For most countries, it is now standard practise to mill the maize so that farmers do not plant it unknowingly, especially in countries where there are no laws to regulate GM crops.

However, because of the huge demand for maize by the new biofuels industry, there is a possibility that the US will no longer have excess grain. It will be interesting to see if those opposed to GM foods can provide alternative non-GM food to the starving masses in Africa.

Q : Are there health implications in eating GM foods?

A : Biotech crops are the most extensively tested food crops available today. Their safety has been endorsed by scientific and regulatory agencies around the world, including the World Health Organisation. But I must emphasise that there is no such thing as zero risk, even where food is concerned. That is why testing and regulation are extremely important in order to identify potential risks and to ensure products are safe for human health. To date, there have been no scientifically proven cases of biotechnology adversely impacting food safety or human health, despite claims to the contrary.

Q : Is it true that you once worked for the US biotech giant Monsanto?

I was at Monsanto as a post doctoral fellow between 1991 and1994, when I was sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development and the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute.

In 1991, USAid advertised for a post-doctoral fellowship. Because the scholarship aimed at initiating North-South technology transfer, the candidate was required to come from an African country with an infrastructure able to carry out gene technology research and later be used to address food security.

I became part of a team that took advantage of Monsanto's royalty free-technology transfer programme. For three years, valuable pioneering work was initiated as I preoccupied myself with trying to establish if the new technology of gene transfer could be used to develop a sweet potato variety resistant to sweet potato feathery mottle virus. Once I completed my bench work, I returned to Kenya in 1994.

I view my involvement not as "working for Monsanto," although there is nothing wrong with this, but more as capacity building to facilitate technology transfer to my motherland, Kenya. The record shows that this involvement helped KARI to develop its biotechnology programme.

Q : What is your involvement with the Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation?

A : The global health programme at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is guided by an international scientific board chaired by Nobel laureate Harold Varmus, who is the president of the Sloan-Kettering Memorial Cancer Centre and former director of the National Institute of Health (NIH) in the US.

The scientific board developed the 14 global challenges from more than 1,000 ideas submitted by scientists in 75 countries. I was appointed to the board and I am still serving on it.

The East African