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Monsanto chief on why GMOs still best bet in war on hunger

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Monsanto global commercial and supply chain vice president Jesus Madrazo. photo | salaton njau

Monsanto, the US-based agriculture and chemical giant, has been advocating the adoption of biotechnology to sustain agricultural productivity in the face of declining output partly due to climate change.

Kenya remains a reluctant player when it comes to adoption of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and has since 2015 only allowed controlled approved field trials.

The Business Daily spoke to Monsanto’s vice president for global commercial and supply chain Jesus Madrazo, who was in Nairobi, on the state of agriculture and how technology can be used to boost output and support food security while taking care of emerging environmental and health concerns. 

What brings you to Kenya?

Three years ago, Monsanto made a very deliberate decision to focus on building our business in sub-Saharan Africa. As part of that decision, we relocated our headquarters from South Africa to Nairobi.

We have a leadership team for African region here — from where we are trying to build a foundation for agriculture in Africa. That’s why we are placing a lot of emphasis in this part of the world.

Food insecurity has become a major challenge to Kenya where climate change has become a reality. How is Monsanto relevant to this emerging dispensation?

There is no one single solution that addresses the whole challenge. It is a multiple dimensional challenge that requires collaboration from companies like Monsanto, government and other partners.

One thing that can make a big impact on this matter is technology. If you bring one high yielding resilient seed and put it in hands of the farmers they will know what to do with it. When they plant it and get better harvest, they become part of the solution to food insecurity.

There is tremendous opportunity of doubling productivity by enabling farmers’ to access biotechnology in sub-Saharan Africa.

Technology is a great piece of the answer to food security. But for technology to reach the farmer, there is a need for enabling policies that allow companies to develop technology that is tailored for realties of the African farmers and put that technology in their hands.

Is GMO crop the solution to weather challenges and is Kenya losing out on or failing to harness this opportunity due to policy constraints?

A number of countries have formulated new policies to allow use of biotechnology in agriculture and that has created an opportunity to transform their farming. Think about US, Canada and South Africa. These countries are now net exporters of food.

We know technology works and if farmers have access to it, they will improve their productivity and profitability of agriculture as an economic activity. This in turn helps lift growers, especially the millions of small scale-farmers in rural areas out of poverty.

But a good point to start with is giving them (farmers) the opportunity to choose whatever technology they think is good for their environment. Unfortunately, when policymakers fail to pay attention to the farmer realities, problems facing producers cannot be solved.  

Drought caused a mass failure of maize crop in South Africa in 2015. the country is a top exporter of GMO maize in Africa. What happened yet they have adopted the relevant technology?

I have just come back from South Africa and farmers say that had they not embraced GMO maize, they would have lost out completely.

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The technology adopted helped them survive the stress conditions of drought and harvest a lot more compared to conventional variety, which was completely devastated in 1982 and 1983 when they lost everything due to drought.

What would say are the advantages of using biotechnology seed compared with the conventional ones?

There is no doubt biotech is one of the tools farmers can use to adopt to changing patterns we face in the world today. It is not a magic bullet but a powerful tool that has helped farmers to manage risks and increase yields as well as significantly reduce the use of pesticides in the fields.

Is agriculture a profitable economic activity?

Agriculture is profitable when you do the right things, and a great piece of being profitable is to be able to embrace the right technology.

In India, for example, in 2002 when we launched first biotech cotton, farmers went from producing 290kg per hectare to more than doubling by simply adopting the biotech cotton. The country moved from being a net importer to a net exporter of the crop, lifting incomes of small scale farmers.

Authorities in Burkina Faso stopped GMO cotton, arguing that whereas it produced more quantities, the quality was very low, what went wrong?

Biotech made huge transformation in Burkina Faso’s crop production. It was well intended to help local farmers. Unfortunately politics carried the day and today farmers are suffering because of the decision that was made, farmers do not have access to that technology and production has come down significantly.