NAIROBI, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's Ministry of Agriculture has enhanced coordination with other regulatory agencies to ensure that genetically modified crops pose minimal health and environmental risks, officials said on Thursday.
Hamadi Boga, the Principal Secretary for Agricultural Research in the Ministry, said that Kenya has invested in a strong regulatory infrastructure alongside skilled personnel to ensure that adoption of genetically engineered crops is devoid of risks.
"As a country, Kenya has opted to embrace modern biotechnology to combat perennial food insecurity while protecting the environment and human welfare," said Boga.
"To achieve this goal, we are required to implement globally recognized legal and regulatory framework to enhance biosafety," he added.
Boga spoke in Nairobi during an annual biosafety conference attended by policymakers, regulators, scientists and lawmakers from the region to discuss regulations governing adoption of genetically modified crops in Kenya.
Boga noted that Kenya's regulatory agencies, farmers and consumer welfare groups have benefitted from training and exposure to demystify commercialization of biotech maize and cotton that is in the pipeline.
"Regulatory agencies have received capacity building and exposure visits. There is a lot of information about agriculture biotechnology and building a consensus about products that are proposed for commercialization in the country should not be difficult," said Boga.
Kenya is banking on large-scale adoption of genetically modified crops to achieve the Big Four Agenda items on food security and manufacturing.
Boga stressed that robust safety measures are in place to ensure that cultivation and trade in biotech crops is not detrimental to health of ecosystems and communities.
So far, Kenyan regulatory agencies have approved national performance trials of Bt cotton to pave way for its commercialization.
Boga said that Bt cotton is expected to jump-start the country's moribund garment manufacturing sector and create new jobs.
He revealed that Kenya has borrowed best practices from African pioneers in agriculture biotechnology like Burkina Faso, Sudan and South Africa to facilitate smooth adoption of Bt cotton and maize.
