Local farmers will find it difficult to export their crops to Europe if they adopt the Genetically Modified (GM) crops, according to the head of the EU delegation to Kenya, Lodewjik Briet.
“We have made this crystal clear to South Africans and I am telling the same to Kenyan farmers that it will be almost impossible to export GMOs to Europe,” Mr Briet said during Citizen TV’s breakfast show, Cheche, on Wednesday.
The warning comes at a time when Kenya is under pressure mainly from the Americans to lift a ban on the importation of genetically modified foods. The Kibaki Government banned the importation GMOs in 2012 following concerns that they could be linked to cancer.
Last week, Health Cabinet Secretary James Macharia told the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Co-operatives that there is a lot of local and international pressure to have the ban lifted.
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Among the organisations campaigning for the lifting of the ban is the Melinda Gates Foundation. “There has been a lot of lobbying. We had a meeting with Melinda Gates, but we didn’t take a position; we had to wait for a report of the task force that we formed to investigate the issue,” said Dr Macharia.
Mr Briet was reacting to a question on why Europe is pushing GMOs to Kenyans. “That notion is wrong. May I make it clear that we are highly opposed to genetically modified foods and any Kenyan farmer going that way will find it hard to get a market in our region.”
Read the full, original article: Europe to shun Kenya’s GM crops, farmers told
