Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology - Kenya Chapter

07/04/2025

ISAAA AfriCenter is participating in The CGIAR Science Week (7 - 12 April 2025) in Nairobi, Kenya, and will be panelists on a side-event discussing CTLGH and Livestock Biotechnologies for AU Agenda 2063, The Africa We Want on Thursday, April 10.

Karibuni!!!

07/04/2025

Nutritionists oftentimes bear the brunt of misinformation and disinformation, because they have to keep extinguishing fires caused by runaway pseuds. About biotech? Even worse. Nutritionists- and other scientists- speak about their experiences here https://ow.ly/glzL50Vvu8i and it has, clearly, not been easy. Here, they were told how to deal with this misinformation and disinformation in this ISAAA-led workshop.

04/04/2025

Africa's population is projected to hit a staggering 2.5 billion by 2050- just a quarter century away. (2050 might look quite far away, but it is not; 25 years ago was the turn of the 21st century, which looks like the other day).
Africa will need to feed this huge population amid damaging climate change and geopolitical tensions- and other conflicts- that hamper agricultural productivity.
Agricultural biotechnology brings in a lot of potential for the continent, with key innovations ensuring food security in the future.
However, misinformation and disinformation surrounding agricultural biotechnology- and generally biosciences- slows down the rate of adoption of some of these biotechnologies, much to the detriment of the masses.
Fortunately, Africa Science Dialogue, https://afriscidialogue.org/auth/sign-up, provides answers to some of the most asked questions, and any other questions that you may have, and in great detail.

01/08/2024

Did you know that globally, 3 billion cups of are consumed daily? Well, now you do.

According to the International Coffee Organization, your favorite beverage is on a trajectory for a halved supply by 2050 unless we can build resilience and in the coffee sector.

In a recent publication in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, Ngure and Watanabe (2024) propose a not-business-as-usual pre-competitive collaborative breeding model, encompassing mutual sharing of germplasm, knowledge, and molecular breeding tools to accelerate breeding, and continuously improve varieties that match the changing growing conditions and industry needs.

Read the full paper at: https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2024.1431849

The sustainability of global coffee supply is threatened by production challenges worsening with every decade since the turn of the 21st century. Coffee is a...

30/07/2024

https://africenter.isaaa.org/african-youth-biosciences-network-aybn-amplifying-youth-voices-global-biodiversity-discussions/

In 1992, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was established during the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, famously known as the Rio “Earth Summit.” It officially came into force in December 1993. This landmark agreement was driven by the global community’s comm...

30/07/2024

https://africenter.isaaa.org/drumbeat/issue-73/

Welcome to this month's edition of The Drumbeat. This month's copy is a symphony of youthful cheerfulness, brimming with the insights and perspectives of our young advocates. We are excited to focus on a theme that resonates deeply with us: the voices of youth in the advocacy for bioinnovations.

11/07/2024

Chege et al. (2024). Best practices for acceptability of GM crops field trials conclusions: lessons for Africa. GM Crops & Food, 15(1), 222–232.

The ability to transfer information about the performance, safety, and environmental impacts of a genetically modified (GM) crop from confined field trials (CFTs) conducted in one location to anoth...

22/05/2024

"Agricultural biotechnology is not just about increasing yields and farmer profits; it is also about preserving the earth’s biodiversity." ~ Margaret Karembu, Ph.D., MBS, Director, Isaaa AfriCenter

Read more at: https://africenter.isaaa.org/role-agricultural-biotechnology-biodiversity-conservation/

On May 22 of every year, the world observes The International Day for Biodiversity (IDB), commemorating adoption of the text of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) of 22 May 1992. The universal observance also demonstrates commitment and support for the Convention, its Protocols, and relate...

22/05/2024

Indigenous Peoples, business, financial institutions, local and regional authorities, civil society, women, young people, and academia must work together to value, protect and restore biodiversity in a way that benefits everyone. ~ António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations

30/04/2024

How much do you know about the parasitic w**d Striga? Prof. Steven Runo and partners have animated how the notorious witchw**d parasitizes crops, and how the SSSfA project is using genome editing to provide a sustainable solution to the menace.

On the heels of a cereal killer!

30/04/2024

https://youtu.be/tPUUKth2t3o?si=I3J_3ezrb-SnrBrS

30/04/2024

The Drumbeat: Africa Bioscience Trends brings to you yet another exciting Issue spotlighting the Feed the Future Striga Smart Sorghum for Africa (SSSfA) project. Read more at:

We bring to you yet another exciting Issue spotlighting the Feed the Future Striga Smart Sorghum for Africa (SSSfA) project. The multi-institutional, collaborative project in Kenya and Ethiopia is employing genome editing (GEd) technology to build durable resistance to Striga parasite, commonly know...