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Status of Biotechnology in Kenya In Kenya, the National Council for Science and Technology (NCST) is the government agency currently responsible for overseeing the implementation of the biosafety regulatory system.
That office issued Regulations and Guidelines for Biosafety in Biotechnology in 1998. Those regulations were issued under the existing Science and Technology Act of 1980, although that Act has no regulatory authorities and no means to enforce compliance with the regulations. The NCST also established the National Biosafety Committee (NBC) to develop the country’s biosafety policy and review GMO applications. The membership of the NBC includes representatives from relevant government Ministries as well as representatives from civil society and the national universities.
Under the interim Kenyan biosafety regulatory system, applications to import or release GMOs (including applications for confined field trials) are submitted to the relevant Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) where they are reviewed and assessed for compliance with the guidelines before submission to the NBC. Then, those applications are forwarded to the NBC, where those applications are reviewed by the NBC and/or a technical subcommittee of the NBC. A recommendation is made by the NBC and the NCST Secretary decides whether to approve the application. To date, Kenya has approved five confined trials.
Kenya has developed a number of legal documents to turn its interim biosafety regulatory system into a permanent and comprehensive system. Those documents included regulations, a Biosafety Law, and a National Biotechnology and Biosafety Policy. The National Biotechnology and Biosafety Policy was approved in 2006 and the Biosafety Law was passed by Government in December 2008. The Biosafety Law was later signed into an Act in February 2009 by the President of Kenya.
Biotech Applications in Kenya
Conventional procedures of biotechnology are widely used in Kenya. For examples tissue culture (TC) is being used in laboratories to facilitate germplasm collection, conservation and exchange and for mass propagation of elite quality planting materials in the country. At a commercial level TC is used in Kenya for production of planting material of pyrethrum, banana, sugarcane, potato, strawberry and flowers; for small scale production of planting material for sweet potato, cassava, vanilla and for protocol development (Macadamia, vanilla, oil palm, flowers).
Marker assisted selection (MAS) for breeding is another biotechnology research tool adapted to enhance conventional breeding with accuracy and to accelerate product development cycles. This tool is widely used in Kenya too. Examples of MAS in Kenya include: - Characterization and mapping of maize streak virus and grey leaf spot resistance genes in maize
- Development of drought tolerant maize and wheat
- Development of wheat lines resistant to the Russian wheat aphid
- Selection for smut resistance in sugarcane
- Diversity studies for sweet potato and cassava
- Characterization of indigenous species of cattle, forages and tsetse.
- On-going work includes development of: virus resistant sweet potato, maize resistant to storage pests, and bio-fortified sorghum.
Most of this research is at laboratory level while contained field testing with maize, cotton and sweet potato have been conducted. In case of livestock DNA technology is directed to vaccine development and disease diagnostics and this is applied in all the country. Related work in the region includes development of recombinant DNA vaccines e.g. against Newcastle disease, Rift Valley Fever and Rinder-pest. Development of molecular diagnostic techniques for livestock diseases such as East Cost Fever, Lumpy skin disease, contagious bovine pleuro-pneumonia), Foot and mouth disease (FMD) as well as for detecting resistance to drugs, microbial quality analysis of foods (fish, diary and meat) and DNA mapping in animal breeding are all in practice. Key Government Institutions Dealing with BiotechRelevant government institutions that will play an important role in the new biotechnology environment in the country will include: - National Council for Science and Technology
- National Biosafety Authority
- Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service
- Kenya Agricultural Research Institute
- National Environment Management Authority
- Kenya Bureau of Standards
- Kenya Industrial Property Organization
- Department of Veterinary Services
Key National Universities in Biotech Training & ResearchKenyan institutions of higher learning are leading the region in biotechnology research and introduction of biotechnology related courses at both undergraduate, post graduate and post doctoral level. The key universities pursuing biotechnology research in the country include: - University of Nairobi’s Institute of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics and the College of Agriculture and Veterinary Science.
- Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology Institute of Biotechnology Research.
- Moi University School of Biotechnology and Agriculture
- Kenyatta University
- Egerton University
- Maseno University
- Masinde Muliro University of Advanced Technology
Leading NGOs in Biotechnology in Kenya- African Biotechnology Stakeholders Forum (ABSF) and the Agricultural Biotechnology Network in Africa (ABNETA
- Africa Harvest Biotech Foundation International
- ISAAA AfriCenter
- Biotechnology Trust Africa (BTA)
International Centres of Excellence in Biotechnology in Kenya Kenya has some of the most advanced international centres that undertake research in biotechnology on a global status and this includes: - Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research (CGIAR) i.e. ILRI, CYMMT, ICRAF, IFPRI
- Bio-Sciences East and Central Africa (BeCA)
- African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF)
- International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE)
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In Kenya
