ABSTRACT
As one of the leading African nations in terms of biotechnology research, Kenya is an important case. How knowledge politics around GMOs plays out in Kenya is highly significant for the future of the technology in Africa is a case for which this knowledge politics has been particularly volatile over recent years. This chapter aims to unpack this knowledge politics, both as a means of opening up space for an airing of those aspects of the debate that have been otherwise closed down, and to draw out broader lessons for effective governance of GMOs in Africa. It reflects on Kenya's experience of developing and passing its 2009 Biosafety Act; the introduction of Labelling Regulations in 2012; and the moratorium on importation and consumption of GM foods imposed in the same year. Particular emphasis is placed on the way in which framings within the regulatory debate are path dependent, and on the role of knowledge and evidence in challenging established trajectories.
