Kenya rejects S.Africas GM maize exports

A 40,000 tonne consignment of South African genetically modified (GM) maize destined for Kenya is stuck at Mombasa harbour after protests against the technology.

The bulk of exports from South Africa, Africas biggest producer of maize, have gone to Kenya this year, which has been severely hit by a drought that has left a third of its population in need of food aid since last year.

The protesters, led by the environmental group Kenyan Biodiversity Coalition, said East Africas biggest economy had a bumper harvest, and the GM maize imports had not been authorised by the Kenyan government.

"The way it is, one is inclined to say that South Africa was a springboard to contaminate the rest of the African continent by allowing multinationals to export from South Africa soil," the paper quoted Mariam Mayet, an activist at the African Centre for Biosafety, as saying.

The chairman of South Africas parliamentary committee on agriculture, forestry and fisheries, Mlungisi Johnson told the paper the decision to allow GM maize to be grown in South Africa was taken to enhance food security in Africa.

African countries have come under increased pressure to grow more food due to rising hunger and malnutrition.

Despite the need for more food, some African countries including Zimbabwe and Zambia have banned GMO imports, fearing they could be harmful to humans and animals.

South Africa industry experts said last month the country saw faster growth in its GM crop area in the 2009/10 season, amid softening perceptions about food from gene-altered crops on the continent.