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6 Afr. Hum. Rts. Y.B. 291 (2022)
Green Crimes: The Impact of Genetically Modified Organisms on Promoting Food Security in Kenya

handle is hein.journals/ahry2022 and id is 307 raw text is: Green crimes: the impact of genetically modified organisms on promoting food security in Kenya Charles A Kharnla https://orCid.org/oooo-ooo2-934- 5 ABSTRACT: Kenya's food insecurity hinders progress towards sustainable development. While the Kenyan Constitution guarantees every person the right to adequate food of acceptable quality, it also prohibits environmental and health endangerment. Whether and how to invest in genetically modified organism (GMO) technology as an alternative food production method is important. In this context, scientists should not be denied the opportunity of harmonising the tension between environmental safety and food security while upholding sustainable development. Scientifically, GMO crops are sustainable, notwithstanding the African Union's rigid social and political setting. However, each state's role in providing sufficient resources and law enforcement personnel is crucial. A GMO regulatory system addresses environmental safety and human health, explicitly adopting the developmental risk notion. Kenya's 2012 cabinet ban on GMO foods derived from the S6ralini Report which erroneously claimed that GM maize causes cancer in rodents. The health ministry established a Task Force to review the country's readiness regarding GMO safety and adoption. Despite having been completed in 2014, its Report remains secret. In 2015, the High Court dismissed as premature demands for public participation on whether to unban GMOs. In 2022, President Ruto lifted the ban. Arguably, while permitting GMO experimentation, it is prudent to prescribe criminal sanctions. Beyond anthropocentric notions, green criminology provides a framework to analyse both illegal and legal environmental harms, and for appraising Kenya's evolving GMO policy. The Constitution provides a right to sustainable use and also establishes enforcement mechanisms to compel cessation and restoration. Yet without punitive consequences, GMO regulations may not deter offenders from environmental contamination. TITRE ET RESUME EN FRANCAIS: Les crimes verts des organismes genetiquement modifies et la promotion de la securit6 alimentaire au Kenya RESUME: L'insdcurit6 alimentaire au Kenya entrave les progres vers le ddveloppement durable. Si la Constitution kenyane garantit a toute personne le droit a une alimentation de qualit6 acceptable, elle interdit 6galement la mise en danger de l'environnement et de la sant6. Il est important de savoir dans quelle mesure et comment investir dans la technologie des organismes gdnetiquement modifids (OGM) comme mdthode alternative de production alimentaire. Dans ce contexte, les scientifiques ne devraient pas se voir refuser la possibilit6 d'harmoniser la tension entre la sdcurit6 environnementale et la sdcurit6 alimentaire tout en ddfendant le ddveloppement durable. D'un point de vue scientifique, les cultures d'OGM sont durables, malgr6 le cadre social et politique rigide de l'Union africaine. Cependant, le role de chaque Etat, qui doit fournir des ressources suffisantes et du personnel charg6 * LLB (Nairobi), LLM (London), PhD (Universit6 de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour (France)); Senior Lecturer Africa Nazarene University; ckhamala@anu.ac.ke 291 CA Khamala 'Green crimes: the impact of genetically modified organisms on promoting food security in Kenya' (2022) 6 African Human Rights Yearbook 291-320 http://doi.org/10.29053/2523-1367/2022/v6a13

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