Kenya Prepares to Grow Insect-Resistant Maize

Every year, stem borers voraciously consume 400,000 tons of maize, causing an estimated $72 million in losses for Kenya. That sum represents over 12 percent of the farmers' annual harvest. The Insect Resistant Maize for Africa (IRMA) project is working to identify conventional and novel sources of stem borer resistance and incorporating them into maize varieties that are well suited to Kenyan growing conditions and to farmer and consumer preferences. The project is jointly implemented by the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) and CIMMYT, with support from the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture.

The His Excellency Mwai Kibaki, President of Kenya (second from left) and Masa Iwanaga, CIMMYT Director General (far right) view Kenya's new biosafety greenhouse complex. Looking on is Romano Kiome (center) Director General, Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI). Among other things, the inauguration of the facility highlighted Kenya's interest in taking a lead role in biotechnology to benefit farmers in sub-Saharan Africa.

If trials are successful, seed of Bt maize inbred lines and of crosses to locally adapted maize will eventually be made available to develop new, insect resistant varieties for farmers To support this effort, IRMA has mounted a major effort to inform and consult Kenyan researchers, academics, farmers, and the general public about the project. As one result, IRMA varieties are being improved for additional traits that farmers value such as drought tolerance and resistance to storage pests.

"We in Kenya have resolved to apply biotechnology in line with the existing biosafety frameworks, national statutes, and international obligations," said H.E. Mwai Kibaki, President of Kenya, while inaugurating the first biosafety greenhouse complex in eastern Africa on June 23, 2004. "The newly constructed biosafety greenhouse complex symbolizes that effort." The President referred to agricultural biotechnology as a tool to improve economic performance, reduce poverty, and enhance food security. The Hon. Kipruto arap Kirwa, Kenyan Minister of Agriculture, attended the ceremony.

A biosafety greenhouse has special features to prevent the transfer of pollen, seed, or other plant material from genetically modified plants to the outside environment. Located at the KARI National Agricultural Research Laboratory (NARL) in Nairobi, the new greenhouse will be used among other things to determine the level of resistance to insect pests in maize developed by IRMA. The resistance is based partly on genes from the soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt).

His Excellency Mwai Kibaki, President of Kenya (second from left) and Masa Iwanaga, CIMMYT Director General (far right) view Kenya's new biosafety greenhouse complex. Looking on is Romano Kiome (center) Director General, Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI). The inauguration of the facility highlighted Kenya's interest in taking a lead role in biotechnology to benefit farmers in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Nairobi facility is the first biosafety greenhouse complex in sub-Saharan Africa, and the only other facility is in South Africa.

"An important output of the project and the greenhouse will be the generation of knowledge and experience," said Masa Iwanaga, Director General, CIMMYT, in remarks made at the inauguration of the facility. Partners have already received extensive training on biosafety greenhouse operation, and are conducting studies on practices the enable farmers to use Bt maize productively and on how the varieties will fit into the environment.