The sun had not yet climbed over the horizon when the first groups of walkers began to gather in the coastal village of Mwabungo, in Kwale County’s Msambweni Sub-County. They came in tracksuits and rubber shoes, some wrapped in sweaters against the cold wind blowing in from the Indian Ocean, all of them answering an unusual invitation: a ten-kilometre walk for a cause that few people in the area fully understood. Inside the National Biosafety Authority, the walk had a simple but urgent mission. For years, genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, have been a source of deep confusion and suspicion in Kenya. Rumours and half-truths have spread faster than scientific facts, leaving farmers, traders, and ordinary citizens uncertain about what is safe to grow, to buy, and to eat. The National Biosafety Authority, the government body mandated to regulate GMOs, decided to go where the confusion is thickest, and to meet people not in boardrooms but on the streets, in community halls, and along the shoreline. Led by NBA Board Chairman David Wamatsi and Acting Chief Executive Officer Dr Ann Karimi, the Authority has intensified its public sensitisation campaign in the coastal counties, beginning with Lamu and Kwale. The aim is not to lecture but to listen, not to push a product but to explain, in plain language, what biosafety and biotechnology actually mean. By the time the walk ended at Kinondo Social Hall, the crowd had grown to more than 330 participants, all of whom had braved the morning cold between seven and nine o’clock to show that knowledge is not something you receive sitting down. They had walked past homes, shops, and the famous sands of Galu Beach, and with every step they carried a message that Kenya is not afraid to ask questions about the food it grows and the science it chooses.
At the heart of the campaign is the National Biosafety Authority itself, a body that many Kenyans have heard about but only vaguely understand. Wamatsi, the Board Chairman, stood before farmers and community members and explained that the Authority is not an advocate for GMOs, nor an enemy of them. Its mandate is far more grounded and serious: to regulate genetically modified organisms in Kenya, with the protection of human health, animal health, and the environment as its first priority. He used the word “safety” again and again, because that is the word that matters most to a mother planting maize for her children, or a trader wondering whether the beans in her stall came from approved seeds. “We are here to explain to our farmers and other stakeholders what we do as an Authority,” Wamatsi said, “so that they can have a better understanding.” The simplicity of that statement hides a great deal of work. Behind every genetically modified crop that enters Kenya, there is a chain of scientific review, risk assessment, and regulation. The NBA is expected to be the referee, not a player. In Lamu, the team held stakeholder forums and also paid a courtesy call on County Commissioner Stephen Shogolo to brief him on the ongoing public awareness campaign. The presence of local administrators was important, because in rural Kenya, government agencies can easily seem distant and untrustworthy. By going through county commissioners, deputy county commissioners, and community leaders, the NBA is trying to rebuild a bridge of trust between science and the people it is meant to serve. It is also trying to answer a question that hangs over every conversation about GMOs in Kenya: who is actually watching out for us?
Dr Ann Karimi, the Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Authority, addressed the elephant in the room: the bitter and sometimes toxic debate between supporters and opponents of genetically modified foods. She made it clear that the NBA has chosen a different path. As a regulator, the Authority is neither for nor against GMOs. It is not in the business of promoting the technology, and it is not in the business of demonising it. Instead, it relies on science, evidence, and its legal mandate to assess what is safe and what is not. This may seem like an uncomfortable position in a world that demands people pick sides, but for a regulator it is the only honest ground. The public is used to hearing loud voices, from those who claim GMOs will end hunger and those who claim they will destroy health and biodiversity. Dr Karimi was telling Kenyans that there is an official, independent referee in the middle, one that does not have a financial stake in seed companies or a political interest in either side of the debate. Her message was echoed by Lamu Deputy Governor Mubarak Mohamed, who reminded the audience that Kenya cannot afford to fall behind in technological development. He spoke openly about the benefits of new technologies, including disease control and the development of drought-resistant crops. In a country that has been hit by recurring droughts, floods, and climate shocks, those benefits are not abstract. They are about whether a family will have enough food when the rains fail. The Deputy Governor’s words carried weight because they came from a practical, political perspective: if Kenya refuses to engage with biotechnology out of fear, it risks being left behind by countries already using it to adapt to a changing climate.
The walk in Kwale County was the centrepiece of the campaign, and it was designed not only to raise awareness but to make biosafety feel real, visible, and local. The route began at Mwabungo, snaked through the scenic Galu Beach, and ended at Kinondo Social Hall. More than three hundred participants took part, including farmers, youth groups, women’s groups, and local officials. The atmosphere was not heavy or academic. People laughed, talked, and paused along the way to hear explanations of what the NBA actually does. Msambweni Deputy County Commissioner Josphat Mutisya flagged off the walk, giving it an official stamp of importance and urging the Authority to take the same message to every corner of Kenya. He understood that the problem of misinformation is not limited to Kwale. It is national. And the solution will also have to be national. For those who completed the ten kilometres, the event was a lesson in patience and persistence, much like the long, slow work of building public trust in science. Along the route, participants were taken through the mandate and role of the Authority in regulating GMOs and promoting biosafety. There were no complicated laboratory diagrams and no intimidating legal jargon. Just conversations. The kind of conversations that happen when people are walking side by side, looking at the same horizon, and trying to make sense of a topic that affects every single meal they put on the table.
By the time the walkers reached Kinondo Social Hall, the message had been repeated enough times to sink in. The Authority exists to ensure that genetically modified organisms are regulated in accordance with the law and based on scientific evidence. It is not a cheerleader for biotechnology, and it is not a doomsayer. It is the body that looks at the evidence and asks hard questions: Is this safe for human health? Is this safe for animals? Is this safe for the environment? Wamatsi urged stakeholders to engage directly with the Authority, to ask questions, to report concerns, and to seek accurate information from official sources rather than relying on viral messages and unverified social media posts. Dr Karimi again stressed the Authority’s commitment to impartiality, saying it is neither pro-GMO nor anti-GMO. In an age of misinformation, that is a radical statement. It means the NBA is willing to regulate, to approve, to reject, and to monitor based on facts, not on fear or fashion. It also means Kenyans have a place they can go to get reliable answers. The walk ended, but the work did not. The conversations continued at the social hall, and they will need to continue across the country for months and years to come. People need time to trust, and trust cannot be forced. It has to be earned through transparency, consistency, and the willingness to show up in the community, as the NBA did on that cold morning in Kwale.
The deeper meaning of this campaign goes far beyond one walk or one forum. Kenya is standing at a crossroads. Its population is growing, its climate is becoming more unpredictable, and its agricultural systems are under enormous pressure. In such a moment, the nation cannot afford to make decisions about technology based on panic, politics, or propaganda. It needs credible systems that can separate facts from falsehoods and protect its people from real harms while allowing them to benefit from genuine advances. The National Biosafety Authority’s intensified public sensitisation in coastal counties is an attempt to build exactly that kind of system. It is a recognition that regulation is not just about paperwork and permits; it is about people. It is about a farmer in Msambweni standing in the morning cold because he wants to understand what he is being asked to plant. It is about a mother walking ten kilometres through Galu Beach because she wants to know whether the food she buys is safe. It is about a deputy county commissioner flagging off a walk because he knows that better understanding can prevent needless panic and lead to better choices. The road ahead is long, and the questions around GMOs will not be answered in a single event. But as the sun rose over the coast and more than three hundred people walked together for a biosafe nation, something shifted. Science was no longer something that happened in distant laboratories. It was happening in the streets, in the sand, and in the hearts of ordinary Kenyans, one step at a time.