Abstract
Maize is the most important staple food in Kenya; any reduction in production and yield therefore often becomes a national food security concern. To address the challenge posed by the maize stem borer, the Insect Resistant Maize for Africa (IRMA) agricultural biotechnology public-private partnership (PPP) project was launched in 1999. There were, however, pre-existing concerns regarding the use of genetic engineering in crop production and skepticism about private sector involvement. The purpose of this case study was to understand the role of trust in the IRMA partnership by identifying the challenges to, and practices for, building trust in the project. Data were collected by conducting face-to-face, semi-structured interviews; reviewing publicly available project documents; and direct observations. The data were analyzed to generate recurring and emergent themes on how trust is understood and built among the partners in the IRMA project and between the project and the community. Clear and continued communication with stakeholders is of paramount importance to building trust, especially regarding competition among partners about project management positions; a lack of clarity on ownership of intellectual property rights (IPRs); and the influence of anti-genetic modification (GM) organizations. Awareness creation about IRMA’s anticipated products raised the end users’ expectations, which were unfulfilled due to failure to deliver Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)-based products, thereby leading to diminished trust between the project and the community. Four key issues have been identified from the results of the study. First, the inability to deliver the intended products to the end user diminished stakeholders’ trust and interest in the project. Second, full and honest disclosure of information by partners when entering into project agreements is crucial to ensuring progress in a project. Third, engaging stakeholders and creating awareness immediately at the project’s inception contributes to trust building. Fourth, public sector goodwill combined with private sector technology and skills are necessary for a successful partnership. These findings may serve as a useful guide for building and fostering trust among partners in other agbiotech PPPs in sub-Saharan Africa.
Highlights
Maize is the most important staple food in Kenya; any reduction in production and yield often becomes a national food security concern
Managing the incidence of the stem borer with pesticides, is unaffordable and poses health and environmental risks to small-scale farmers [6]. Another method tried for managing the stem borer in Kenya has been the ‘Push and Pull’ cropping system developed by the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) [7]
Based on interviewees’ understanding of trust, and our analysis of the challenges to and practices for trust building, we identified four key lessons that other agbiotech private partnership (PPP) may find useful for building trust among project partners and with the community
Summary
Maize is the most important staple food in Kenya; any reduction in production and yield often becomes a national food security concern. Managing the incidence of the stem borer with pesticides, is unaffordable and poses health and environmental risks to small-scale farmers [6]. Another method tried for managing the stem borer in Kenya has been the ‘Push and Pull’ cropping system developed by the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) [7]. In this system, the “stem borers are attracted to napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum), which is used as a trap plant (pull), and are repelled from the main cereal crop using a repellent legume intercrop (push), desmodium (Desmodium spp.)” [7]. For further up-scaling this system requires, among other needs, integration with livestock to utilize desmodium and capacity building of the farmers on how to run the system, as well as a more conducive policy framework—factors that may have contributed to slow adoption of the technology by farmers
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