Prof. Richard Oduor: Lifting of ban on GMOs by Kenya Gov’t a little late

Despite President William Ruto's Monday decision to lift the ban on the importation and planting of genetically modified crops (GMOs), Kenyatta University's Director of Research Prof. Richard Oduor opines that Kenya took its sweet time to adopt biotechnology as compared to other African nations.

According to Prof. Oduor, who was speaking on Citizen TV's JKLive show on Wednesday, other African nations such as Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, Sudan, Malawi, South Africa and Eswatini discovered early on that they needed to adopt biotechnology to develop better yielding, disease-resistant and drought-tolerant crop varieties.

The said countries, Oduor went on, likewise recognized the pros of embracing a new technology that would stamp out worldwide food shortage.

"We are very late in the game because when that paper popped up, It wasn't only Kenya that panicked…other countries panicked as well; even Russia panicked," said Oduor in reference to a white paper released in France almost a decade ago that linked GMOs to cancer.

"But soon after investigations were done and it (the white paper) was found to be flawed, they lifted the ban. It has taken us almost 10 years to debate this and in those years haven't we had cases of cancer?"

The professor correspondingly added that the lifting of the ban on GMOs now presents Kenya with other opportunities for growth and development and not just eradicating hunger.

President Ruto lifted the ban largely because Kenya is currently reeling from the effects of one of the longest-running droughts in its history, which has forced many Kenyans to flee their homes in search of food and water.

"Now this is very good because the youth who have graduated from this technology can now go out there and try their hands in food formulations," said Prof. Oduor.

"We do not do genetic engineering for fun. GMO is not a silver bullet; it is just one of the tools that we want to compliment other ongoing methods."