By Duncan Mboyah
Kenya and the International Potato Center (CIP) have signed a licensing agreement to transfer a biotech potato that is resistant to late blight disease.
Dr. Eliud Kireger, the Director General of Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), said that the signing of the agreement is a significant achievement in developing and delivering impactful, science-driven solutions that directly address the challenges faced by the farmers.
“Late blight, a devastating disease, is responsible for up to 70 percent yield losses in potatoes, hence threatening food security and farmers’ livelihoods in Kenya,” Dr. Kireger said during the signing ceremony in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital.
Dr. Kireger said that traditional control methods, such as chemical fungicides, are costly, environmentally taxing, and often inaccessible to smallholder farmers and have failed to save farmers from making losses.
He said that with the increasing population and ravaging climate change effects in the East African nation, the move will help solve food security and improve the economic status of farmers.
He added that the agreement is a landmark moment in agricultural biotechnology and the first of its kind that involves the transfer of a biotech potato resistant to late blight.
The partnership, he added, exemplifies how the Consultative Group of International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) co-develop and deliver high-impact technologies, ensuring they reach the farmers who need them most.
Dr. Kireger observed that the partnership has helped unlock the potential of agricultural biotechnology, fosters food security and drives economic growth through technology transfer.
Dr. Eric Magembe, a biotechnologist at CIP, said that by leveraging cutting-edge research, the biotech late blight-resistant potato significantly reduces the need for chemical inputs, enhances productivity, and improves farmers’ resilience to climate-induced agricultural challenges.
Dr. Magembe said that late blight is severe and affects between 25 – 80 percent of potato farms, depending on the variety of the potato.
He said that with the adoption of the new variety, farmers will save 25 percent of wastage and 34 percent increase in their direct livelihood incomes.
Dr. Moses Nyongesa, Centre Director of KALRO’s research station at Tigoni potato centre, said that the new technology that has been developed through biotechnology is a game-changer in research.
Dr. Nyongesa said that farmers in Kenya lose 300,000 metric tons of potatoes, equivalent to 50 million U.S. dollars (6.4 billion Kenya Shillings) to late blight disease.
He said that the agreement is a milestone partnership for Kenyan farmers who have been making huge losses after spending lots of money in their farms.
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