Biotechnology for Kenya

Having 'missed out' on the Green Revolution, can biotechnology succeed in Africa where previous efforts have fallen short?

Maize is grown on 90% of Kenyan farms and is an important source of food, income and employment. Food shortages usually correlate with poor maize yields. About 15% of harvest losses are caused by stem borer beetles. The Insect Resistant Maize for Africa (IRMA) project is developing Bt maize, resistant to the beetle.

Sweet potato is a staple food crop, grown in many regions of Kenya. Several different plant viruses have contributed to declining sweet potato production, with less than half the global average yield per hectare. The Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) and Monsanto, a US-based biotechnology company, have organised a project to develop virus-resistant sweet potatoes with funding from the US Agency for International Development.

Tissue culture is being used to produce disease-free plantlets for banana production. KARI is working with the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications, the Institute of Tropical and Subtropical Crops and other organisations in South Africa to deliver clean banana plantlets to resource-poor farmers in Kenya. This has been effective in overcoming disease transfer problems in planting, at least for the first generation of new plants. The project shows the value of linking participatory methods to research, with effective extension and distribution networks to increase use by farmers.

These cases illustrate the importance of integrating GM solutions with other options, including non-transgenic biotechnologies. For example, virus-resistant sweet potato could boost yields by up to 18% but only if there is an efficient system of extension and distribution to provide clean planting material to farmers.

Biotechnologies that are appropriate for small farmers in Africa must:

• l be affordable and not restrict their freedom to save and exchange seeds
• l be manageable and appropriate for small plots in marginal areas
• l be accessible and responsive to local livelihoods, including availability of labour
• l prioritise traits such as disease resistance, rather than traits such as herbicide tolerance, which require expensive inputs
• l be suitable and acceptably safe for introduction into the local ecosystem
• l be supported by measures such as access to credit, markets and extension services.

Hanningon Odame, Patricia Kameri-Mbote, David Wafula
African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS)
Nairobi
Kenya
odame@iss.nl

Views expressed on these pages are not necessarily those of DFID, IDS, id21 or other contributing institutions. Copyright remains with the original authors but (unless stated otherwise) articles may be copied or quoted without restriction, provided id21 and originating author(s) and institution(s) are acknowledged. Copyright © 2005 id21. All rights reserved.