Assessment of Kenyan public Perception on Genetic Engineering of food crops and their Products

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Date
2011-07-26
Authors
Anunda, Henry
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Abstract
Genetic modification has come a long way since its inception with the first genetically engineered human insulin in 1982 and the first genetically modified tomato in 1994. The use of genetic engineering to modify crops has been a controversial issue which has raised scientific, environmental, economic, social and ethical/moral as well as religious concerns. In Kenya, the debate has been conducted with little involvement of key stakeholders, in particular farmers and consumers. Thorough exploitation of public opinion on Genetically Modified crops and foods is lacking to date in the country. Consequently, an extensive literature review on current issues pertaining to transgenic crops was done and a survey was carried out in Kenya covering all the country's 8 provinces between November 2007 and June 2008 with the objective of assessing people's attitudes, opinions and knowledge of genetically modified crops and foods. The targeted population for the survey involved Kenyan adult civilizable population (aged 18 or older). The objective was to attain a sample size of 1200 to achieve a sampling error rate of +3,7 percent. Four {4} clusters were set to ensure a balanced representation of all stakeholders in the country; A (general consumers), B (farmers), C (academia), D (scientists). In addition, efforts were made to ensure that the sample drawn for this study was representative of the Kenyan population through Simple Random Sampling, Systematic Sampling, Convenient and Snowball Sampling as valuable, appropriate. The data in this study was obtained via completion of questionnaires. Specifically, the survey instrument was designed to gather information on the public's general awareness, knowledge and attitudes on various issues pertaining to the use of 'genetic engineering on crops and food production, public approval of the use of genetic engineering and public views about various private, foreign and public institutions associated with biotechnology research and product development. The survey also sought some information on the respondent's economic demographic and value attributes, including respondent's views about scientists, companies and government regulators associated with genetic engineering of products. While 746 respondents completed the questionnaire, another 438 individuals either refused to participate or did not complete the questionnaire. This gave a response/cooperation rate of 68%. However, responses to some of the questions in the survey were not usable for the analysis, thus excluding some respondents (44) from the sample during analysis. As a result, a total of 702 completed questionnaires were used for actual analysis. Overall, 58% of the respondents agreed that genetic engineering would alleviate hunger and malnutrition besides reducing poverty in Kenya. Results of the study indicate that public acceptance of food crops genetically engineered is related not only to their demographic characteristics but also to their valuable attributes. Younger people were generally more optimistic about GMCs food. However, female respondents were clearly less supportive of GMCs and food than were their mettle counterparts. More educated individuals and those with higher levels of scientific knowledge were more optimistic about introduction of GMCs and foods in Kenya. The results suggest the need for a well designed and effective program to educate the public about, various issues relating to the use of genetic engineering in agricultural and food production.
Description
Department of Educational Management Policy & Curriculum Studies, 148p. ill The SB 123.57 .A5 2009
Keywords
Crops --Genetic engineering --Kenya, Agricultural biotechnology --Kenya
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