Day: October 7, 2022

Kenyan authorities have announced plans to lift the country’s ban on genetically modified crops, in part to deal with a record drought that is causing hunger across the Horn of Africa. The move is opposed by those concerned about potentially harmful effects on health, the environment and small farms. But supporters say lifting the ban will improve food security.

Speaking earlier this week, Kenyan President William Ruto said lifting the ban on genetically modified organisms is part of the government’s response to the drought ravaging the country.

Anti-GMO groups have faulted the move to lift the ban, citing concerns about potential harmful effects on Kenyans’ health and agriculture.

At a press conference in Nairobi, more than 10 civil society organizations asked the government to reinstate the ban and look for alternative solutions to the challenges of food security in the country.

Ann Maina is national coordinator of one of the groups, the Biodiversity and Biosafety Association of Kenya.

“There’s so much controversy related to this,” Maina said. “It is important that we as Kenyans do not open the door to a situation where we can see more challenges of health, environment and socioeconomic concerns affecting the Kenyan population.”

Kenya has prohibited cultivation of genetically modified crops and the importation of food crops and animal feeds produced through biotechnology innovation since 2012.

The move followed a controversial study in France that linked GMO products to cancer. The study was later discredited and removed from the publishing journal.

The government’s move paves the way for importation of GMO products, which the government says will help boost food security.

Dr. Roy Mugiira is CEO of the National Biosafety Authority of Kenya, the government agency that oversees genetically modified organisms in the country.

Lifting the ban won’t just help Kenya, he said, but other countries in the region that are experiencing drought.

“[Kenya and other countries] will be able to access emergency food aid through the United Nations’ World Food Program,” he said.

A number of African countries, including Kenya’s neighbors Tanzania and Uganda, have bans on genetically modified agriculture. The lifting of the ban in Kenya is already causing jitters, with Tanzania stepping up vigilance on GMOs following Kenya’s move.

A 2021 survey by Route to Food found that 57% of Kenyans are not willing to consume genetically modified food.

Nairobi resident Adeti Mahaga falls into that category.

“Right now, the world is really struggling to control cancer, this fight against cancer,” Mahaga said. “So, a lift on GMO with a reason of trying to make food accessible to all Kenyans is like throwing Kenyans’ lives to the gutters, because that means in three years we’ll be registering very, very high cases of cancer.”

Experts at the Texas-based MD Anderson Cancer Center and other major research institutions say there is no proven evidence of a link between genetically modified foods now on the market and risk of cancer.

Jeremy Omondi of Nairobi said he might support the move.

“Right now, we have people that are really suffering from drought,” he said. “They don’t have food, they don’t have water. And if that is the only way that the government can ensure that there’s enough food for all Kenyans across the country, then I will support it.”

U.N. relief organizations said last week that Kenya’s food security situation is likely to get worse in coming months because of continued poor rains and high food prices. It said an estimated 4.4 million people likely will need some kind of aid.

Source: Voice of America

America’s employers slowed their hiring in September but still added a solid 263,000 jobs — potentially hopeful news that may mean the Federal Reserve’s drive to cool the job market and ease inflation is starting to make progress.

Friday’s government report showed that last month’s job growth was down from 315,000 in August and that the unemployment rate fell from 3.7% to 3.5%, matching a half-century low. Last month’s job gain was the smallest since April 2021.

September’s slightly more moderate pace of hiring may be welcomed by the Fed, which is trying to restrain the economy enough to tame the worst inflation in four decades without causing a recession. Slower job growth would mean less pressure on employers to raise pay and pass those costs on to their customers through price increases — a recipe for high inflation.

Still, the Fed would need to see more sustained evidence that hiring and pay gains are slowing before it would moderate its interest rate hikes as it fights inflation. In September, hourly wages rose 5% from a year earlier — the slowest year-over-year pace since December but still hotter than the Fed would want. The proportion of Americans who either have a job or are looking for one slipped slightly, a disappointment for those hoping that more people would enter the labor force and help ease worker shortages and upward pressure on wages.

Leisure and hospitality companies, including hotels, restaurants and bars, added 83,000 jobs last month. Health care and social assistance employers gained 75,000 jobs, factories 22,000. But governments cut jobs. Retailers, transportation and warehouse companies reduced employment modestly.

The public anxiety that has arisen over high prices and the prospect of a recession is carrying political consequences as President Joe Biden’s Democratic Party struggles to maintain control of Congress in November’s midterm elections.

In its epic battle to rein in inflation, the Fed has raised its benchmark interest rate five times this year. It is aiming to slow economic growth enough to reduce annual price increases back toward its 2% target.

It has a long way to go. In August, one key measure of year-over-year inflation, the consumer price index, amounted to 8.3%. And for now, consumer spending — the primary driver of the U.S. economy — is showing resilience. In August, consumers spent a bit more than in July, a sign that the economy was holding up despite rising borrowing rates, violent swings in the stock market and inflated prices for food, rent and other essentials.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell has warned bluntly that the inflation fight will “bring some pain,” notably in the form of layoffs and higher unemployment. Some economists remain hopeful that despite the persistent inflation pressures, the Fed will still manage to achieve a so-called soft landing: Slowing growth enough to tame inflation, without going so far as to tip the economy into recession.

It’s a notoriously difficult task. And the Fed is trying to accomplish it at a perilous time. The global economy, weakened by food shortages and surging energy prices resulting from Russia’s war against Ukraine, may be on the brink of recession. Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, warned Thursday that the IMF is downgrading its estimates for world economic growth by $4 trillion through 2026 and that “things are more likely to get worse before it gets better.”

Powell and his colleagues on the Fed’s policymaking committee want to see signs that the abundance of available jobs — there’s currently an average of 1.7 openings for every unemployed American — will steadily decline. Some encouraging news came this week, when the Labor Department reported that job openings fell by 1.1 million in August to 10.1 million, the fewest since June 2021.

Nick Bunker, head of economic research at the Indeed Hiring Lab, suggested that among the items on “the soft-landing flight checklist” is “a decline in job openings without a spike in the unemployment rate, and that’s what we’ve seen the last few months.”

On the other hand, by any standard of history, openings remain extraordinarily high: In records dating to 2000, they had never topped 10 million in a month until last year.

Economist Daniel Zhao of the jobs website Glassdoor argued that a single-minded focus on the job market might be overdone. Regardless of what happens with jobs and wages, Zhao suggested, the Fed’s policymakers won’t likely let up on their rate-hike campaign until they see proof that they’re actually hitting their target.

“They want to see inflation slowing down,” he said.

Source: Voice of America

South Korea’s military appears to want to conscript members of the K-pop supergroup BTS for mandatory military duties, as the public remains sharply divided over whether they should be given exemptions.

Lee Ki Sik, commissioner of the Military Manpower Administration, told lawmakers on Friday that it’s “desirable” for BTS members to fulfill their military duties to ensure fairness in the country’s military service.

Earlier this week, Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup made almost identical comments about BTS at a parliamentary committee meeting, and Culture Minister Park Bo Gyoon said his ministry would soon finalize its position on the issue.

Whether the band’s seven members must serve in the army is one of the hottest issues in South Korea because its oldest member, Jin, faces possible enlistment early next year after turning 30 in December.

Under South Korean law, all able-bodied men are required to perform 18-21 months of military service. But the law provides special exemptions for athletes, classical and traditional musicians, and ballet and other dancers who have won top prizes in certain competitions that enhance national prestige.

Without a revision of the law, the government can take steps to grant special exemptions. But past exemptions for people who performed well in non-designated competitions triggered serious debate about the fairness of the system.

Since the draft forces young men to suspend their professional careers or studies, the dodging of military duties or creation of exemptions is a highly sensitive issue.

In one recent survey, about 61% of respondents supported exemptions for entertainers such as BTS, while in another, about 54% said BTS members should serve in the military.

Several amendments of the conscription law that would pave the way for BTS members to be exempted have been introduced in the National Assembly, but haven’t been voted on with lawmakers sharply divided on the matter.

Lee, the defense minister, earlier said he had ordered officials to consider conducting a public survey to help determine whether to grant exemptions to BTS. But the Defense Ministry later said it would not carry out such a survey.

In August, Lee said if BTS members join the military, they would likely be allowed to continue practicing and to join other non-serving BTS members in overseas group tours.

People who are exempted from the draft are released from the military after three weeks of basic training. They are also required to perform 544 hours of volunteer work and continue serving in their professional fields for 34 months.

Source: Voice of America