His Excellency the Hon. Mwai Kibaki, President of Kenya, stands with the Director of the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), Romano Kiome, and shakes hands with Masa Iwanaga, Director General of CIMMYT. Looking on at the right are Andrew Bennett, Executive Director of the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, which provided funds for the new greenhouse, and Shivaji Pandey, Director of CIMMYT’s African Livelihoods Program.

Presidential Appearance Highlights Launch of Kenya Biosafety Greenhouse

A watershed moment for the Insect Resistant Maize for Africa (IRMA) Project and more broadly, for biotechnology in Africa was reached in june 2004, when the President of Kenya, his Excellency the Hon. Mwai Kibaki, officially launched the first level-2 biosafety greenhouse in sub-Saharan Africa, outside of South Africa.

Linking Science to Livelihoods

“Agricultural biotechnology is one of the modern, innovative approaches that can help us overcome constraints,” President Kibaki declared. “We must embrace and apply modern science and technology in farming. Indeed, there is evidence that countries that have embraced modern agricultural technologies have improved economic performance, reduced poverty, and ensured greater food security for their people.”

The President said he was aware of the ongoing debate regarding biotechnology and its products, particularly genetically modified organisms. “We in Kenya have resolved to apply biotechnology in line with the existing biosafety frameworks, national statutes, and international obligations,” he said.

Stemming Losses to
Maize Stem Borers

“When the doors of KARI’s biosafety greenhouse swing open for their first official day of business,” said Masa Iwanaga, CIMMYT Director General, “we will also witness the door opening to a new world of research opportunities and agricultural progress. With this greenhouse and the training of competent staff, Kenya and KARI have positioned themselves as leaders in sub-Saharan Africa in using biotechnology to increase food production.”

The first order of business for greenhouse staff will be to develop maize that resists stem borers and is environmentally friendly, the primary objective of the IRMA project. Stem borers typically inflict annual losses of around 15% to Kenya’s maize crop. Farmer surveys by IRMA participants signal controlling borers as a high priority for both small- and large-scale farmers. Since its inception in 1999, the project has engaged in a twopronged approach—development of both transgenic, Bt maize, and maize whose resistance comes through conventional breeding—to provide farmers with suitable options for controlling borers.

The containment offered by the biosafety greenhouse will allow KARI scientists to test maize with various Bt genes against the five main stem borers found in Kenyan maize fields. It also enables continued experiments on possible effects of Bt plants on organisms other than borers, especially on beneficial insects such as bees or on natural predators of stem borers.

High Standards for Safety
and Participation

Aside from constructing the greenhouse, the IRMA project is pioneering in several other respects. To date, the project has focused on using Bt genes produced by the public sector and on making sure that antibiotic and herbicide resistance marker genes have been removed from the final products. Considerable effort has gone into collecting and characterizing the organisms typically found in maize fields, to assess possible environmental impacts of Bt maize. Extensive farmer and field surveys have also enabled scientists to develop strategies for smallholders to impede stem borers overcoming the Bt-based resistance.

“We’ve set high goals for ourselves in terms of environmental safety, public awareness, farmer and stakeholder participation, developing human capacities where needed, and in developing effective products for farmers,” adds IRMA coordinator Stephen Mugo. “It’s not often you see an international agriculture project moving forward successfully on so many fronts at one time.”

After three years of testing, in 2004 six outstanding experimental, open pollinated varieties from CIMMYT and Kenya will be grown in the country’s National Performance Trials, for possible subsequent release to farmers. In addition, hundreds of inbred lines and hybrids have been screened and 40 inbred lines that possess insect resistance are being increased for use and distribution.

For more information: s.mugo@cgiar.org


What is a Biosafety Greenhouse?

A biosafety greenhouse has special features to prevent the transfer of pollen, seed, or other plant material from transgenic plants to the outside environment. These isolation measures are taken as a precaution and do not necessarily indicate a danger to the environment or human health.

KARI’s level-2 biosafety greenhouse has special features, approved by the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) and consistent with international standards, to ensure that transgenic materials do not enter the external environment before approval is obtained for testing in a controlled open-quarantine site. These features include:

  • Fine mesh screens that will not allow pollen to pass.
  • Double-entry doors to greenhouse rooms to prevent inadvertent movement of pollen.
  • Double drains to prevent plant materials from being carried off through the drains.
  • Only authorized personnel can enter.
  • Special facilities and procedures to properly dispose of all plant and insect tissues.
  • Staff trained in approved protocols for operation of the facility.

What does “level-2” entail? Biosafety levels established by the National Institute of Health (NIH) in the United States have been widely adopted as a general standard. Levels “1” through “4” for plant biosafety specify the physical and biological containment conditions and practices required for various greenhouse experiments involving transgenic plants (“1” indicates the lowest containment level and 52 “4” the highest).

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January, 2005