CRITICAL EVALUATION OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS AS AN INTERVENTION STRATEGY IN AGRIBUSINESS SECTOR IN KENYA WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Evans Mwasiaji - Department of Business Administration, Kenyatta University, Kenya
Lawrence Alaro - Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Biotech, Kenyatta University, Kenya
Moses Muthinja - Department of Public Policy and Administration, Kenyatta University, Kenya
Christopher Njuguna - Department of Agricultural Economics, Kenyatta University, Kenya
ABSTRACT
Climate change has negative effects on crop yields, nutritional quality, livestock productivity, human health and the rate of economic growth. This has exacerbated food and nutrition insecurity in Kenya, hence the cabinet approval of genetically modified crops that attracted praise and protestations in equal measure. This study using a meta-analysis approach therefore sought to detect gaps in the phenomenon of genetically modified organisms as an intervention strategy in agribusiness sector, governmental regulatory framework, agripreneurship competencies and their impact on food security in Kenya. The study revealed that Agriculture remains a pillar to Kenya’s economy. The study also established that climate change complicates Kenya’s long-term aspiration of attaining nutrition and food security, with 4.2 million people facing acute hunger in year 2022, while simultaneously wasting about 5.2 tonnes of food every year. Further, studies on genetically modified organisms have reported conflicting results on effect on human health, ethical consideration, ownership of technology, seed sovereignty and adequacy of capacity to test for quality standards. This study argues that there is inadequate data to support cultivation and importation of genetically modified food crops as a hunger intervention measure in Kenya. Seedlings generated through biotechnology innovations not only negate the need to produce in harmony with nature, but are also a threat to food security through patents ownership by multinationals. This implies that the premise upon which genetically modified organisms were approved in Kenya is faulty. The study concludes that vulnerable people experiencing hunger in Kenya is due to supply chain failure in agribusiness sector, rather than lack of food in the country. The study therefore recommends that discussions about food insecurity in Kenya should focus on how to improve infrastructure, enhancement of agripreneurship competencies along the whole food value chain including seed, agricultural production and distribution factors. There is also need to shift towards irrigation as opposed to over reliance on rain fed agriculture. The study has also suggested the need to use an integrated model and some propositions to be tested as hypotheses to generate data to facilitate evidence based solutions to enhance agribusiness sector productivity, food and nutrition security in Kenya.