We the farmers of Kenya, community-based organizations, civil society organizations and environmentally conscious citizens of the Republic of Kenya do hereby appeal to the president of the republic of Kenya to rescind the decision on lifting the ban on genetically modified organisms/crops (GMOs).
Promoting GMOs in Kenya will severely affect 50 million of Kenya’s farming community, the majority being smallholder farmers from saving and using their managed seeds that are culturally appropriate, resilient and affordable.
The country stands to lose its agrobiodiversity from contaminations affecting the whole food chain and the flora and fauna in our country. We urge the president to consider the article of the constitution that acknowledges Kenya’s biodiversity as a national treasure.
The country stands to lose its agrobiodiversity from contaminations affecting the whole food chain and the flora and fauna in our country.
Indeed causes of the climate crisis and its adaptation measures can best be addressed by conserving our biodiversity rather than engineered solutions which are temporary and aggravate the intensity of unknown consequences to our health and environment. They are false solutions.
We appeal for consideration of ecological-based solutions and the adoption of agroecology principles from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES) for long-term food policy interventions.
This includes but is not limited to cultivations of diverse crops, use of local seeds and crop germplasms adapted to local climatic conditions, integration of livestock to complement soil fertility inputs and recycling of farm wastes alongside a change of eating habits that embraces culturally appropriate foods.
Our country should not be an experimental ground for false solutions by multinational corporations but rather a leading light in the world of nations for protecting biodiversity signified by our hosting of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in Nairobi.
