Broken promises.

• Author: Ching, Lim Li
• Position: Biodevastation

GM sweet potato project turns sour

"Monsanto's showcase project in Africa fails," runs the headline in New Scientist, pronouncing the project to develop genetically modified (GM) sweet potatoes a flop. [1] The GM sweet potatoes, modified to be resistant to the feathery mottle virus, were as vulnerable to the virus as ordinary varieties, and sometimes their yield was lower. "There is no demonstrated advantage arising from genetic transformation," Kenya Agriculture Research Institute (KARI) researchers Drs. Francis Nang'ayo and Ben Odhiambo were quoted as saying. [2] The Kenya national newspaper, Daily Nation, wrote: "The transgenic material did not quite withstand virus challenge in the field." Furthermore, "all lines tested were susceptible to viral attacks." And control (non-GM) crops yielded more tuber compared to the GM sweet potato.

Kenyan biotechnologist Florence Wambugu had been involved in the early stages of the GM sweet potato project, and has been traveling the world promoting it. Media reports have given the impression that the GM sweet potato was already in commercial use and bringing real benefits. A typical report said: "While the West debates the ethics of genetically modified food, Florence Wambugu is using it to feed her country." [3] It went on to claim that the GM sweet potato yields "are double that of the regular plant" and that the potatoes were bigger and richer in color, with more nutritional value.

A recent report by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics cited the project as evidence of the potential benefits of GM crops to developing countries, saying of the GM sweet potato, "it is expected that yields will increase by approximately 18-25%" and that, where sold, "the increased income will be between 28-39%." [4] And, "the use of GM virus-resistant sweet potatoes could prevent dramatic and frequent reductions in yield of one of the major food crops of many poor people in Africa." This report is what the UK government turns to when questioned about impacts of GM crops on developing countries. But the yield claims are difficult to verify, as there has been little field data. In fact, early descriptions of the GM sweet potato project had overstated the potential gains from GM by under-reporting the average yield in conventional production. Aaron deGrassi of the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex has said, "Accounts of the transgenic sweet potato have used low figures on average yields in Kenya to paint a picture of stagnation. An early article stated six tons per hectare--without mentioning the data source--which was then reproduced in subsequent analyses. However, FAO statistics indicate 9.7 tons, and...