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Kenya told to defer introduction of GM crops

Kenya has been asked to delay introduction of genetically modified (GM) crops and boost the use of conventional means of food production.

Sylvia Mwichuli, a director at Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, said the East African nation should not be in a hurry to introduce GM crops because the current means of food production are under-utilised.

“We should fully exploit the science that we have before introducing new technologies that we cannot fully handle,” she said on Tuesday.

Mwichuli noted that Kenya’s farmers barely know innovative methods of food production available in the country, the reason why they do not use them.

“Introducing GM to them would be jumping the gun. The technology is not the panacea to food insecurity. There are many more beneficial technologies in Kenya that have not been spread to farmers. That is where we should start with,” she said.