Kenya govt wants to impose GMOs ‘by force’

The latter is an organisation represented in 91 countries whose members include the global who’s-who of the genetic engineering industry — BASF, Bayer CropScience, Dow Agrosciences, Dupont, FMC, Monsanto, Sumitomo and Syngenta. Dr Wambugu is the founder of Africa Harvest, which campaigns for GMOs in Africa.

With all this going on, it seems it is only a matter of time before Kenya joins South Africa in growing and commercialising GMOs. The trouble is that Kenya’s horticultural exports to the European Union (EU), particularly baby corn, stand to be affected. Kenya and Zambia are the main exporters of fresh baby corn to the EU, with much of the product being consumed in Britain.

Some of the baby corn sold in British supermarkets is grown by small-scale farmers in Kibwezi under irrigation.

What is most interesting is that the Kenya government recognises the significant role played by the country’s horticultural exports.

For instance, a month after coming out in the open to support the proliferation of GMOs, Ruto himself promised flower growers that the country will start branding its horticulture, tea and coffee exports to the EU.