The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Prof Collette Suda, has called on biotechnology and biosafety stakeholders to increase awareness campaigns on biosafety. “Many countries are heading towards commercialization of GM crops. However due to prevailing misconceptions, we need to communicate about them in a way that the general public and especially farmers can understand and in a way that portrays their benefits for food production. “

The Permanent Secretary made the remarks in her opening speech to a three day biotechnology and biosafety communication workshop for the National Biosafety Authority (NBA) Board members and the National Biosafety Appeals Board on 24th February 2016.

The training was attended by 22 constituting members of the NBA board and 5 members of the National Biosafety Appeals Board. The members got acquainted with principles of effective biosafety communication. They also learnt how to develop and deliver key messages on biosafety to various categories of stakeholders. Through mock media interviews, they practiced on how to prepare and articulate appropriate messages, thus enhancing their confidence in engaging with media and the general public. Members were also made aware about the use of social media for relaying biosafety messages.

The training was preceded by a visit to Kenyatta University’s Biosafety Level II lab and the Virus Resistant Cassava for Africa (VIRCA) project confined field trials where they witnessed first-hand the progress made in the country’s agri-biotech research capacity.

At the end of the training, participants appreciated the knowledge gained, which, according to them came at an appropriate time when Kenya is processing applications on GM crops research including confined and open field trials of key crops such as cotton and maize.

“For most of the board members, it was a unique experience to interact with scientists and to see what they do from the lab, to the fields. Training on media relations was also very useful and helped us to imagine how a media interview on TV and radio would play out, and how the messages we developed can help out” said Dr. Willy Tonui, the CEO at the National Biosafety Authority.

At the end of the workshop, participants committed to choose key spokespersons for the board and make use of skills gained in developing and delivering common messages on key biosafety issues.

The workshop was organized by the National Biosafety Authority (NBA) in collaboration with the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA AfriCenter) and the Program for Biosafety Systems (PBS).