About

Tissue Culture banana plant-lets in a KARI laboratory

Kenya is among the African countries shifting focus to Biotechnology. With an increased number of biotechnological institutions in the country, the urge to use biological materials for industrial and other manufacturing processes has been in the increase. Poor agricultural yields and rising food insecurity has brought sharp focus in the role of modern agricultural technology in human development in the country.

Kenya has some of Africa’s finest genetic engineering scientists, who have acquired specialized biotech skills from both local and international universities. The country has a number of higher institutions including Universities of Nairobi, Egerton, Kenyatta, Jomo Kenyatta, Moi, Maseno and Masinde Muliro,

Masinde Muliro University's Biotech Class (2014)

which are offering biotech related courses as well as well equipped research centers like KARI and Kenya Medical Research Institute which are continually becoming relevant in the field of modern biotechnology, both locally and in the region.

The most advanced field of Biotechnology in Kenya is agricultural biotechnology. This can be attributed to the increased need to address  food insecurity in the country. Some of the important crops under transformation through genetic engineering techniques includes maize, cotton, sorghum, bananas, cassava and sweet potato. Wheat and rice are other crops being considered seriously for transformation. However, it is important to note that large scale commercial production of genetically modified crops is yet to be done. Most of these are currently being studied in confined field trials.

Currently, Kenya is laying foundation for building capacity on animal biotechnology, especially on areas of development of biotechnology based vaccines and diagnostics for use in animal health. However, capacity building is still needed for evaluation of the potential harmful effects of GMO to humans using laboratory animal models as this will help develop confidence on GMOs in Kenya and Africa at large.

The Kenya Medical Research Institute Headquarters (Nairobi)

In the East African region, Kenya houses the highest number of research Institutions focusing on Biotechnology and its application. These include;

·       ILRI (International Livestock Research Institute)

·       ICIPE( International centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology)

·        KARI( Kenya Agricultural Research Institute)

·       KEPHIS( Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service)

·       KEMRI (Kenya Medical Research Institute)

Biotechnology in Kenya is governed by the Biosafety Bill of 2007 which still pending in Parliament yet to be made a law. Kenya is a Member of the Cartagena Protocol which they signed in 2000 and was ratified in 2002. This guides the trans-boundary movements of living modified organisms with exceptions to therapeutics.

Finally, it is worth noting that Biotechnology in Kenya is facing numerous challenges, key among them being lack of proper legislation and concerns over the safety of genetically modified organisms. However, there is optimism that the future of biotechnology will only get better as government is realizing the need to embrace biotechnology as well as due to the increased sensitization of the Kenyan people on the benefits that biotechnology holds for the country.