Nairobi: The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the National Biosafety Authority (NBA) in regulating genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and promoting the adoption of modern biotechnology to enhance Kenya’s food security and agricultural productivity.
According to Kenya News Agency, speaking at Kilimo House in Nairobi during a courtesy call by a visiting delegation from Senegal’s National Biosafety Authority, the Director of Crop Resources, Agribusiness and Market Development, Douglas Kangi, who represented the Principal Secretary for the State Department for Agriculture, Dr. Paul Ronoh, underscored the critical role played by the NBA in ensuring Kenya achieves food and nutrition security.
The Senegalese delegation was led by Director General Prof. Aliou Ndiaye and included General Secretary Dr. Colonel Lamine Kane and Ms. Assatou Ndiaye. They were hosted by Kenya’s National Biosafety Authority, led by Acting Chief Executive Officer Dr. Ann Karimi, alongside Directors Josphat Muchiri and Nehemiah Ngetich.
Kangi emphasized the challenges facing the country such as drought and pest infestations, pointing out the responsibility of the Ministry to ensure food security for all Kenyans. He highlighted the low productivity across the agricultural value chain and the Ministry’s efforts to embrace emerging technologies to address these issues.
He also called on the Authority to intensify public awareness campaigns to address misinformation about GMOs, which undermine public trust. The Ministry pledged to continue supporting these efforts to improve public perception of GMOs.
The Director welcomed the collaboration between Kenyan and Senegalese biosafety authorities and advocated for a continental framework for GMO regulation to enhance biosafety governance across Africa.
In her remarks, the NBA Acting CEO expressed gratitude to the Ministry for its ongoing support in advancing the Authority’s mandate of ensuring the safe development, transfer, handling, and use of GMOs.
Prof. Ndiaye expressed his appreciation for the warm reception and partnership, noting that the Senegalese delegation had gained valuable insights from Kenya’s experience in GMO regulation.
The benchmarking visit aims to share Kenya’s experience in biosafety legal, policy, and institutional frameworks; facilitate knowledge exchange on GMO application review, risk assessment, decision-making, inspection, and post-approval monitoring; demonstrate the role of GMO testing laboratories in biosafety regulation and trade facilitation; showcase confined field trial management practices; and identify priority areas for collaboration and capacity building between the two biosafety authorities.
