The High Court in Kenya on Thursday extended a ban on the importation and sale of genetically modified (GM) crops and foods in the country until Feb. 1, 2023 when a case by campaigners comes up for hearing.
The court imposed the ban on Nov. 18 until the hearing of the case, which came on Thursday.
Justice Mugure Thande, in a dispatch from the court, said she extended the injunction as a precautionary measure pending the hearing of evidence from expert witnesses on effects of GM crops on health and the environment.
The judge, while consolidating the case with a similar one, said the matter was of great public interest locally and globally because of global uncertainties surrounding GM crops and foods.
The anti-GM crops petition was filed by a lobby called Kenyan Peasants League, which opposes the importation, cultivation and consumption of GM food noting they pose a health hazard to Kenyans, particularly the poor.
The extension of the ban delays Kenya’s quest to use the technology to boost food security as drought ravages the country.
The Kenyan government lifted a decade-long ban on GM crops on Oct. 3 as one of the measures to mitigate climate change effects, including a frequent drought that is currently affecting 4.3 million people, according to the National Drought Management Authority. Enditem
