Publications: About ISAAA
Kenya's Needs in Agricultural Plant Biotechnology: The Perspective from a National Program Cyrus
Ndiritu Introduction Kenya has an estimated human population of 26 million. This population will increase by 5.2 million in the next four years and the total population will reach over 31 million by the year 2000. The demand for food to support this population will also increase throughout these years and well beyond. The main foods on which Kenyans depend are maize, millet and sorghum, sweet potatoes and potatoes, cassava, rice, wheat, pulses, sugar, milk, meat, vegetables, and fruits, especially banana. The rate of growth required to attain national self-sufficiency for most of these commodities is very high and thus very difficult to achieve. This situation presents Kenya and the country's research institutes with a formidable challenge. The Institute is employing tissue culture techniques on a variety of crops including pyrethrum, bananas, potatoes, and strawberries. One of the strategies Kenya is pursuing to address this challenge is the development and adaptation of high-yielding, drought-, pest- and disease-resistant crop varieties. The vast semi-arid areas of Kenya, which constitute more than 71 per cent of the country, are especially in need of these varieties. The Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) places a high value on biotechnology and knows that the successful implementation of this strategy absolutely requires the effective deployment of biotechnology Many improved crop varieties have already been developed by conventional means, and several have had a significant impact at the farm level. However, the options available to farmers must be broadened by continuing to generate and release additional technologies. It is also important to bring new tools to bear on problems that have proved intractable using conventional approaches. In KARl's experience, the tools and products of biotechnology, including transgenic crops, can strengthen the technology generation process considerably They can also contribute to the dissemination of new technology.
KARI's biotechnology program In designing its crop biotechnology program, KARI has sought to employ biotechnology first to complement the Institute's traditional methods of doing business, and secondly as a strategy for generating entirely new products. The Institute is thus employing tissue culture techniques on a variety of crops including pyrethrum, bananas, potatoes, and strawberries to eliminate infections. It is also mass-producing these materials for planting and domestic use. KARl's greatest accomplishment in biotechnology research, however, is in the area of crop genetic transformation for improved tolerance to abiotic and biotic stresses. Current and planned projects in this field include collaborative research with Monsanto on the transformation of sweet potato for resistance to feathery mottle virus, the mapping and cloning of Kenyan maize varieties for drought and insect resistance with the Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Mais y Trigo (CIMMYT), and research on the development of efficient diagnostic tools for the identification and characterization of major crop diseases with several other partners. Most of KARl's crop biotechnology program is undertaken in collaboration with other institutions around the world. To increase the capacity for biotechnology within KARI such collaboration is essential. Collaborative technology development and transfer projects have proved especially effective in strengthening Kenya's genetic engineering capabilities. This capacity will serve as a valuable resource for future institutional and technological developments in the field. Kenya needs operational biosafety regulatory mechanisms in harmony with international standards that allow for the saje and effective transfer of technologies from other countries To complement activities in genetic engineering, Kenya needs operational biosafety regulatory mechanisms in harmony with international standards that allow for the safe and effective transfer of technologies from other countries, including the sweet potatoes currently being developed. These mechanisms are critical to enable and facilitate the responsible testing and adoption of biotechnology applications. In preparation for the formulation and implementation of such national mechanisms, KARI has established a biosafety committee and has trained personnel in this area through hands-on experiences of regulatory issues, field testing practices, and permit applications and reviews. Similarly, since 1994 an initiative sponsored by the Directorate General for international Cooperation (DGIS) of the Netherlands has sensitized the Kenyan public to biotechnology in general and has made people aware of the considerable potential benefits of specific applications. This initiative led to the setting up of the Kenyan Agriculture Biotechnology Platform, which has held a number of meetings and workshops, many of which included farmers. This education in biotechnology has prepared the public for the transfer of transgenic sweet potato technology to Kenya and thus made the technology acceptable to the country's producers and consumers. This project has the added advantage of being demand-driven, in the sense that farmers were involved both in the initial identification of the problem and in selecting the sweet potato varieties to be improved through genetic engineering. The popular varieties selected by farmers will be identical to those returned to Kenya, only with improved resistance to viral diseases.
KARI/ISAAA collaboration Since 1991, KARI has been working closely with the Monsanto Company to improve Kenyan sweet potato varieties by incorporating genes for resistance to the deadly sweet potato feathery mottle virus. This work has recently achieved its objective of incorporating genes containing the virus coat protein into the plant's cell system. The sweet potato transformation work was initiated by Dr. Florence Wambugu, who subsequently trained another KARI scientist, Daniel Maingi, to whom she later handed over the project when she took up the Directorship of ISAAA's African regional center (AfriCenter). The project has successfully produced transgenic lines of several African sweet potato varieties that had been taken to Monsanto for that purpose. The lines are now undergoing various greenhouse tests and will be transferred back to Kenya over the next year. Subsequent activities in Kenya will include acclimatization, greenhouse virus challenge, and bulking and micro-propagation for field trials and other agronomic evaluations. The best performers in these trials will be further bulked for dissemination to farmers in Kenya and ultimately to our neighboring countries. In both Kenya and other African countries, ISAAA could contribute to many other areas of agricultural development ... by developing mechanisms that will encourage private-sector participation in the delivery of biotechnology products to farmers. KARI has requested that ISAAA support the transfer of this highly valuable technology to Kenya and has already received considerable support in planning and preparation for the transfer. Specifically, ISAAA is helping KARI develop the transfer protocol and prepare the technical base in Kenya for absorbing and evaluating the technology. ISAAA is also helping to build the scientific capacity to carry out in-country research on the transgenic varieties through training researchers. KARI hopes that ISAAA will continue its valuable support in these areas. With ISAAA's support, KARI has also embarked on the training of more scientists, who will be working in various aspects of crop transformation and field evaluation of transgenics in Mexico and the USA. The organizations hosting this training include Monsanto and ClNVESTAV-lrapuato, together with the US Department of Agriculture/Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA/APHIS) and Washington State University. These scientists, some of whom have already come back to Kenya, are expected to acquire, evaluate, and disseminate additional transgenic crops relevant to Kenya's needs. Once our capacity for crop biotechnology research and development has been well established, Kenya will be able to share its technology and know-how with neighboring countries. Under another ISAAA project, KARI is developing a diagnostic capability in maize streak virus (MSV). This will allow research into the genetic basis of MSV resistance in maize and will strengthen our bid to breed tolerant varieties. These studies, together with ongoing collaborative efforts with several partners in South Africa on the delivery of tissue culture banana technology to small-scale farmers, constitute significant contributions to food security in Kenya. ISAAA has supported the work on bananas by facilitating training in Costa Rica, the USA, and South Africa for Dr. Esther Kahangi of the Agriculture and Technology department of Kenya's Jomo Kenyatta University It has also fostered the commercialization of tissue culture plant production, and assisted KARl's scientists, Mr. Chris Gathungu and Ms. Margaret Onyango of the Institute of Tropical and Subtropical Crops (ITSC) in South Africa, with developing acclimatization and hardening processes for the delicate, tender plantlings. This training has given these scientists the requisite skills that will help Kenyan farmers benefit from the rapid dissemination of the new technology. The links developed between South Africa and Kenya through ISAAA's efforts extend beyond the research on tissue-cultured banana plants to projects on improved sugarcane varieties and enhanced forestry development. The project to apply tissue culture techniques to the propagation of multipurpose trees complements the projects oriented towards food crop research. Both pursuits should benefit some of Kenya's poorest people, particularly women. Likewise, ISAAA's contribution to the country's development of biosafety regulations has been extremely valuable. ISAAA facilitated much of the training of KARI personnel in biosafety issues, and also educated them about regulatory agencies outside Kenya. Much was gained by organizing the training around a specific South-South collaborative project. It is evident from these many joint activities that a strong partnership has emerged between ISAAA and Kenya's national agricultural research system.
The future In both Kenya and other African countries, ISAAA could contribute to many other areas of agricultural development. The need is great. These areas include support for the development of a strong private-public sector linkage. The private sector is one of the main channels through which new technology should flow to producers and consumers. Yet it remains chronically weak in many countries, including Kenya. ISAAA could increase the flow of this channel by developing mechanisms that will encourage private-sector participation in the delivery of biotechnology products to farmers. At present, the issues of intellectual property rights constitute a considerable barrier to effective links between the public and private sectors. By expanding its current role as an honest broker, ISAAA could facilitate negotiations about access to technologies. Another area that ISAAA could contribute to is the cultivation of new activities that do not receive support from traditional donors. ISAAA could, for example, create fellowships to support the application of biotechnology to hitherto under-researched crops. It could also enhance support for networking into other areas. Strong and sustainable biotechnology networking mechanisms that enhance the development and exchange of useful biotechnology products and processes still elude many research institutions in Africa. This is particularly serious because, individually, these institutions lack the necessary capacity to "go it alone." As a result, African research efforts are fragmented and duplicative. They often fail to capitalize on comparative advantages and the potential for spillover. ISAAA could assist by bringing relevant parties together for the identification of needs and priorities, thus contributing to more permanent networking arrangements. Breaking down institutional barriers within national research systems would be an important part of this work.
Regional contributions KARI's project on the enhancement of sweet potatoes is just one example of an activity developed and implemented by Kenyan scientists in collaboration with other institutions. However, the project is unique in its broad range of benefits, with impacts on food production and food availability for the poorest of the poor, on the sustainability of agriculture, on the national capacity for biotechnology research and development, on the establishment of biosafety regulatory mechanisms and procedures, and on the forging of new creative partnerships between Kenya and the private sector in developed and developing countries. Kenya urgently needs a stronger system for absorbing and diffusing appropriate crop biotechnology applications. The country already has a significant operational capacity in animal biotechnology, which provides an excellent foundation on which to build. Once our capacity for crop biotechnology research and development has been well established, Kenya will be able to share its technology and know-how with neighboring countries, including Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania. Like Kenya, these countries have large populations of resource-poor farmers. They too need access to superior biotechnologies to help them produce more food, increase their incomes, and protect their environments. << Previous | Back to Table of Contents | Next >> |
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