A Kenyan court on Thursday dismissed a case challenging the government’s reversal of a ban on genetically modified crops, effectively allowing for their open cultivation. The East African nation lifted a decade-long ban on GM crops in October 2022 but the decision has been the subject of court challenges and protest from consumer and biodiversity groups. Thursday’s ruling is the second time the High Court has thrown out a case aimed at blocking GM crops. In October 2023, an environment court judge ruled that there had been no evidence to show that the crops posed any harm to nature or human health. That ruling formed the basis of Thursday’s decision by judge Lawrence Mugambi.Paul Mwangi, a lawyer who is close to the opposition and the main petitioner in the case, told AFP they were in the process of challenging Mugambi’s orders at the higher Court of Appeal. Kenya, like many other African nations, banned GM crops over health and safety concerns and to protect smallholder farms, which account for the vast majority of rural agricultural producers in the country.However, it faced criticism over the ban, including from the United States, which is a major producer of GM crops.The government of President William Ruto said it allowed the open cultivation and import of GM crops in response to drought.Agriculture is the backbone of Kenya’s economy, contributing 30 percent to gross domestic product and employing some 80 percent of the rural population, according to government figures.
