(16 Nov 2022)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kiambu - 2 November 2022
1. Various of farmer Alice Muthoni walking around failed maize plantation
2. Various of failed maize crops on farm
3. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Alice Muthoni, Kenyan Farmer:
"We used to sell a lot of maize after harvest. Now we didn't get enough for commercial use, just a bit for subsistence. Almost three years now since we harvested anything of substance. Out of one acre, you can get just a bag out of it. That's just enough for us to eat."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Nairobi - 26 October 2022
4. Various of lab personnel grinding maize seeds in mortar to extract samples for testing
5. Various of sample collection
6. Genetically modified organism (GMO) testing kit box
7. Setup of Roy Mugiira, CEO of Kenya's National Biosafety Authority (NBA), in office
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Roy Mugiira, CEO of Kenya's National Biosafety Authority:
"We conducted a few confined food trials for a maize variety that is enhanced to resist drought. Now what that means is that this maize is able to give at least a harvest even in times of high water stress when there is no rain. Also it has the ability to more or less resurrect. I mean it goes dry, completely loses water up to around almost 20% or even less, but when a drop of water hits the ground, the plant is able to come alive."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kiambu - 27 October 2022
9. Various of vegetable farmer Esther Kagai tending plants
10. Various of vegetables on Kagai's farm
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Esther Kagai, farmer:
"I think what we are lacking in our country is water. Look at people who have enough water, with good seeds, not GMO seeds, they are doing well. They are not hungry. GMO seeds, which have so many controversies, I feel like our president should have shelved it for a little bit for safety of those things to be established and also to make a good system on how they should be disseminated from seed to food."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Nairobi - 26 October 2022
12. Various of food bio-testing in a lab
13. Mugiira in office
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Roy Mugiira, CEO of Kenya's National Biosafety Authority
"We take it through international standard tests. Number one, we first of all conduct what is called substantial equivalent. What that means is that we take the GM (genetically modified) maize and the non-GM maize, do a profile of the chemical composition of the GM, profile of the non-GM. Then we put them together and say are they, of course they can not be 100% the same, but are they substantially equivalent?"
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kiambu - 27 October 2022
10. Various of organic farm
STORYLINE:
The worst drought in 40 years has hit farmers across east Africa, causing food insecurity and threatening famine.
In Kenya, arable land on the outskirts of the capital, Nairobi, is supposed to be especially fertile.
But four consecutive failed rainy seasons have turned one farmer's life upside down.
Alice Muthoni says it's been almost three years since she's had a substantial harvest.
"We used to sell a lot of maize after harvest. Now we didn't get enough for commercial use, just a bit for subsistence," she explains.
Muthoni says one acre delivers only about a bag of maize, "just enough for us to eat".
Kenya recently said it was lifting the decade-old ban on openly cultivating and importing genetically modified organisms (GMO).
It came amid pressure from the US government, which had argued that the ban affected US agricultural exports and food aid.
In the face of the ongoing drought crisis, the use of genetically modified crops is seen as a solution to failing harvests.
Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
