OPEN FORUM ORGANIC RESOURCE

The conspiracy to fanatically sell the idea of Biotechnology(read GMO's) as the only solution to increasing productivity in our agricultural sector requires a thorough interrogation of the true motives behind this move. Could it be that we are auctioning our rights as farmers and consumers to powerful multinationals who want to monopolise the future of our agricultural potential by imposing intellectual rights on our farming methods,seeds and other inputs that are important in our agriculture? Has the government and other stakeholders exhaustively explored all other holistic means that can kickstart agricultural productivity and still be multisectoral in their approach so as to benefit other segments of population who are not primarily farmers or core stake holders in the sector?

I want to enimerate and discuss some of this important approaches.

INFRASTRUCTURE; visiting some of our most productive farming areas like Nyandarua and Kitale districts,one will note the poor state of the feeder roads as well as the main roads that can be very useful in ensuring that the agricultural products get to the main markets in time knowing the perishability nature for most of the fresh products grown in this areas. This areas are not suffering from low productivity. They are only in dire need of good roads and intermediate handling facillities that ensure standard quality before dispatching the products to their main markets. Infrastructure such as cold storage for tomatoes,potatoes and cabbages will ensure that the shelf life of this products is improved during handling and transportation. This creates jobs both in road maintenance and construction as well as in the handling facillities built in this areas. The cooling plants in the dairy sector built by both KCC and other private dairies are a good pointer in this direction.

Enabling these farmers to adopt Biotechnology without addressing this basic bottlenecks will not help in sending their controversial products to their hapless consumers and the end result just like in their present circumstances is wastage and spoilage of the product!

Let's again look at a different set of other areas suffering from food deficits like the larger Eastern Province districts where the main bottleneck is erratic rainfall pattern. These areas only require viable irrigation fed production systems to raise their threshold in food security as well as producing surplus for sale in markets within and outside their production areas. This is not an issue that can be addressed by introducing biotechnology as the crops crops need water whether they are Biotech or Natural in order to grow and produce at maximum levels.

What may surprise the advocates of biotechnology especially in this later deficit areas is that they are the breadbasket of mainly legume cereals in the seasons of plenty and their main problem lies in storage of the excess product without pest damage and selling at fire sale price to meet their immediate financial needs as well as avoid pest damage. All these can be solved by ensuring an irrigation fed system of farming that ensures regular production and income throughout the year.

Surely the Government and other stakeholders should explore these means of increasing productivity before rushing to embrace Biotechnology as the main solution to food security even when exhaustive studies have not been made to ensure the safety and other implications now and in future.

Let's not walk before we crawl!PROFARMS CONSULTANTS,NAIROBI-KENYA