GMO debacle hits Kenya’s horticulture exports in Europe
GMO debacle hits Kenya's horticulture exports with buyers in Europe raising concerns over the country’s lifting of the ban
GMO debacle hits Kenya’s horticulture exports with buyers in Europe raising concerns over the country’s lifting of the ban.
Concern over Kenya’s decision to relax its ban on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) among European consumers of Kenya’s horticulture products has exporters undertaking additional certification to ensure that the items have not been enhanced by the technology.
Customer inquiries about whether the produce they are exporting is still GMO-free, according to Fresh Produce Consortium of Kenya Chief Executive Officer Okisegere Ojepat, are what they are currently dealing with.
The European Union has not yet fully embraced GMOs, and the continent previously expressed misgivings when Kenya attempted to market biotechnology flowers.
“We are being questioned to confirm whether what we are selling to our European customers is GMO or non-GMO and we are required to show proof through additional certification,” said Mr. Ojepat.
Despite the fact that GMOs are an effective technology for increasing food production, Mr. Ojepat claimed that since the ban’s relaxation, the politics around them have created uncertainty worldwide.
With 45% of sales, the European Union continues to be the top destination for Kenyan horticulture exports, which primarily include cut flowers, French beans, snow peas, and Asian vegetables.
“There is no clarity so far from the government on what is going on and this is causing confusion. We need clarity from the Ministry of Agriculture and the National Biosafety Authority (NBA) to give comfort to the country and the world just to ensure that our trading partners are aware of Kenya’s position,” said Mr. Ojepat.
He said the country has not been known to be a GMO State and now with the lifting of the ban, there is a need to show certification that in all shipments for export, there are no GMO traces.
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“What customers are insisting on now is a declaration that what we are exporting is not GMO and by all means, it should not have traces of GMO,” he said.
The court last week stopped the importation and distribution of GMO products in the country after activists challenged the move by the government.
The Cabinet had last month lifted a decade-old ban on GMO products to allow the importation and growth of biotechnology products in the country.
Kenya has already earmarked a million acres to be put under GMO crops in the next planting season.
Last year, NBA stopped planting GMO flowers after it emerged that allowing its cultivation would hit the country’s exports to Europe, Kenya’s main market for horticulture produce.
The government sees the adoption of GMO technology as a means of addressing high food prices that are currently the result of drought and poor crop yields.
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