Status of Biotechnology and Biosafety in Kenya

1. Status of Biotechnology and Biosafety in Kenya Simon T. Gichuki Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) www.kari.org Presented at the training course on communicating biosafety and issues management in Modern Biotechnology (6th – 8th September, 2011), Lukenya, Kenya

2. Outline of Presentation • Status of ongoing GM crops projects in Kenya • Maize • Cassava • Sorghum • Cotton • Others • Other biotechnology and biosafety activities • Status of recombinant livestock vaccines and diagnostic tests • t

3. Status on Plant Biotechnology Biotechnology in Kenya

4. Maize Role in Africa’s Food Security • 22 million hectares of maize is grown in Africa which is about 16% of the global hectarage • Global average yield approximately 4.9 t/ha • Yield in the industrialized countries 8.3 t/ha • Yield in developing countries 3.3t/ha • Average yield in Africa 1.9t/ha (1.3 t/ha in sub-Saharan Africa, 1.5 t/ha in Kenya) • Maize is the major staple crop for the majority of Kenyans

5. Major Constraints to Maize Productivity • Biotic factors • Diseases • Pest • Weeds • Abiotic factors • Drought • Low soil fertility Source - CIMMYT

6. Objectives: Develop drought tolerant African maize through a combination of conventional breeding, marker- assisted breeding, transgenics, and doubled haploid technology Water Efficient Maize for Africa

7. WEMA concept of increased Yield Potential Step-Changes in Yield Potential INNOVATIONS IN AG TECHNOLOGY THROUGHOUT THE VALUE CHAIN CONTRIBUTE TO YIELD GAIN

8. WEMA Partners Contribution CIMMYT – Germplasm, capacity building Monsanto Ltd – Trait, Capacity building NARS – Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique and South Africa – Efficacy trials WEMA Activities in Kenya • One round of confined field trials have been concluded at KARI Kiboko • Second CFT planted last month

9. Improved Maize for African Soils (IMAS) • Goal: To improve the lives of subsistence and smallholder farmers on nutritionally deprived soils in Sub-Saharan Africa by developing and deploying improved maize varieties with enhanced nitrogen use efficiency.

10. IMAS PARTNERS and Progress CIMMYT – Contributes , breeding trials, capacity building Pioneer Hi-Bred International – Contributes the trait and capacity building Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) – Contributes germplasm, breeding trials, efficacy trials Agricultural Research Council (South Africa), – Contributes germplasm, breeding trials, efficacy trials • N-depletion studies going on at several sites • CFT site development in progress • CFT planned in 2 years time

11. Biocassava Plus (BC+) Improving Cassava for Nutrition, Health, and Sustainable Development Bio Cassava Plus Partners Donald Danforth Plant Science centre National Root Crops Research Institute, Nigeria Kenya Agricultural Research Institute

12. 250 million sub-Saharan Africans and 600 million persons globally rely on cassava as their major source of calories. Ranks 5th among crops directly consumed by humans

13. Cassava roots are a rich source of calories, but do not provide complete nutrition.

14. Major objectives of BC+ • Increase (6X) levels of iron and zinc. • 2. Increase (4X) protein content. • 3. Increase (10X) bioavailable levels of vitamin A and vitamin E.

15. Achievements of BC+ in Kenya

16. KARI BC+ Trainees Capacity Building Paul Kuria (PhD student JKUAT), Irene Ngatia (PhD student KU), and Evans Nyaboga at ETH Zurich (Currently at the BecA hub)

17. Nutrition Study Study conducted on nutrition status of 2-5 year olds consuming cassava as a staple in TesoBusia and Kuria Districts, April 2009.

18. Update on BC+ Activities in Kenya Survey of Popular Farmer Varieties • Covered all the major cassava production areas of Kenya • collection of popular varieties • root samples for nutrient analysis Capacity Building • Training on Biosafety Compliance Management & Communication • Construction of Biosafety Level II screen-house in Kakamega • Upgrading of CFT Site at KARI-Alupe

19. A confined field trial of cassava with a beta carotene enhancement gene has been planted in KARI Alupe in June 2011 and is doing very well.

20. Virus Resistant Cassava for Africa (VIRCA) Development of virus Disease (CMD) Resistant Cassava

21. Cassava mosaic disease (CMD) Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD) Virulent CMD may cause a yield loss of up to 100% 21

22. VIRCA Partners • Donald Danforth Plant Science centre, USA • KARI - KENYA • NAARI – UGANDA • International Institute of Tropical Agriculture – IITA at the BecA hub • VIRCA Activities in Kenya • A confined field trial of cassava resistant to cassava mosaic virus has been planted in KARI Alupe in April 2011 and is proceeding on very well. • An application for a confined field trial for cassava resistant to the cassava brown streak virus has been submitted to KARI Institutional Biosafety Committee.

24. Africa Biofortified Sorghum Nutritionally-Enhanced Sorghum for the Arid and Semi-Arid Tropical Areas of Africa

25. Food Sorghum Fifth most important grain for food use Center of origin in Africa Primary cereal in arid and semi-arid geographies A staple food for 300 million people in Africa Mostly consumed as porridges

26. Sorghum Grain and Food Quality High energy value Low protein quantity Poor protein digestibility Poor protein quality - Low in lysine, tryptophan, threonine, and sulfur amino acids. Low iron and zinc availability Low vitamin A and E content

27. ABS Key partners and progress • A-harvest, Pioneer International, KARI • Green house experiments have been concluded • An application for a confined field trial of transgenic biofortified sorghum has been approved by the National Biosafety Authority. • A CFT site has been developed at KARI Kiboko • CFT planting will planted within a few weeks at KARI Kiboko

28. Bt cotton • Pest resistant cotton (Bt cotton) • Preparations for an application of environmental release ongoing • Stakeholder training on handling Bt cotton and stewardship ongoing. • A commercialisation task force has been set up 28

29. Status of other GM projects • Virus resistant sweetpotato –Discontinued • Development of Insect Resistant Maize (Bt Maize)

30. Laboratory and Greenhouse Research at ILRI • Laboratory and Greenhouse research on disease resistant banana. Approved by NBA in March 2011 • Laboratory and Greenhouse research genetic modification of yam for nematode resistance. Approved by NBA in March 2011 • Notification to NBA for proof of concept: Test of a transgene in cattle under containment to study underlying mechanisms for trypanosome resistance.

31. Laboratory and Greenhouse Research at Kenyatta University • Laboratory and Greenhouse transformation of pigeon pea for insect resistance. Approved by NBA in March 2011 • Laboratory and Greenhouse transformation of sweetpotato for insect resistance. Approved by NBA in April 2010

32. Status of TC application in various crops

33. Marker Assisted Breeding • Characterization and mapping of Maize Streak Virus and Grey Leaf Spot resistance genes in maize • Development of drought tolerant maize and wheat varieties • Development of Russian Wheat Aphid resistant wheat lines • Fingerprinting of maize land races • Diversity Studies for Sweetpotato and Cassava • Characterization of Indigenous species of cattle, forages and tsetse flies

34. Livestock Recombinant Vaccines • A Recombinant vaccine for Rift Valley was developed a few years ago and has been validated against goats in the lab. • Efforts to test it against live animals have not succeeded due to lack of an appropriate biosafety testing facility for animals involving GMOs. • KARI collaborates with USDA and the International Atomic Energy Agency to carry out surveillance of the disease in Kenya.

35. Livestock Disease Diagnostics • KARI has developed a number of diagnostic tests for animal diseases. Some have been validated and are in the process of being commercialised e.g A latex agglutination test for the contagious caprinepreural pneumonia (CCPP) in goats and the bovine equivalent in cattle (CBPP).

36. CAPRITESTR An LAT diagnostic kit that has been developed and registered for testing Contagious Caprine Preural Pneumonia in goats

37. Thank you