How Kenya's Lake Bogoria Powers the Global Biotech industry

How Kenya’s Lake Bogoria Powers the global Biotech Industry

The Tide pod challenge

In this era of boredom coupled with social media, there seems to be an endless stream of challenges performed by millennials. These viral trends usually involve participants recording themselves doing absurd activities. Sometimes there is a humanitarian cause behind the challenge for example the ALS ice – bucket challenge (an activity involving the dumping of a bucket of ice and water over a person's head, either by another person or self-administered, to promote awareness of the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and encourage donations to research). The ALS ice bucket challenge generated about $115 million in donations to the ALS society.

However some challenges are rather frivolous, case in point ‘The Tide Pod challenge’. Tide Pods are a line of laundry detergent pods from Procter & Gamble's Tide brand. The tide pod was popular at the beginning of 2018 and it featured teens eating Tide detergent pods for social media attention. This was very dangerous and exposed participants to a high risk of permanent health damage or even death. The tide pod challenge improved Tide’s popularity and it was reflected in how P&G, tide’s parent company, beat Wallstreet’s expectations when they posted

their quarterly revenues in the height of the Tide pod craze. The company posted quarterly revenue of $17.4 billion and fiscal second-quarter net income of $2.5 billion.

The tide pod challenge was an incredibly foolish undertaking, and we’re collectively glad that it’s over.

In the midst of the tide pod challenge people started asking a lot of questions. Questions like why are tide pods dangerous? How are they made? Do they source their chemicals and raw materials responsibly?

Some of the questions that stood out to the White Collar team are WHAT are the enzymes that are used in tide pods & similar detergents, and WHERE do the manufacturers get them?

Kenya’s Lake Bogoria

Lake Bogoria, in Kenya’s Rift Valley, is a world renowned tourist attraction. It’s famed for its geysers and large flamingo population which comes to feed on the algae and drink fresh water from the lake side spouts.

The lake itself is highly alkaline and twice as salty as seawater; it can’t support fish. However, the lake’s conditions seem to be perfect for special kinds of organisms: The lake contains an unusual array of microbes and micro-organisms from which

enzymes have been produced for use in antibiotics and cleaning products. Enzymes play a similar role to some detergent chemicals but they do so faster and in a more environmentally friendly way.

In 1992, a researcher from a British University harvested some microorganisms from the lake, and in 1995 sold them to companies in the Netherlands and the United States.

Bogoria has deep spiritual and cultural significance for the Endorois people, who have lived beside, and been custodians of, the lake for centuries. But it’s only in the last few years that they have realized they are sitting on a potential gold mine.

Wilson Kipkazi, chairman of the Endorois Welfare Council, says companies that conducted research at the lake never involved the community. “We learned through media that multinational companies have made millions of dollars through genetic resources extracted from Lake Borogia. This really made the community furious...”

Following the researcher’s sale of microbes, the Kenyan government sued the involved companies for not sharing the financial benefits from innovation birthed in Kenya.

“Fortunately, later on, some companies… decided to talk to the communities and pay back some royalties... It was not much money but it changed lives.”

A United Nations environmental ecosystems expert Levi Kavagi, said “Microbes or micro-organisms are natural capital,” in a UN environment story feature.

The Nagoya Protocol

The Nagoya Protocol was adopted on 29 October 2010 in Nagoya, Japan and entered into force on 12 October 2014, 90 days after the deposit of the fiftieth instrument of ratification. Its objective is the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources, thereby contributing to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

The Nagoya Protocol entitles the Endorois people to fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the Lake Bogoria. So far some benefits have trickled down to the community as they have been able to educate about 250 children from the Endorois community which they are grateful for, however more can be done.

The laundry detergent industry alone is projected to be worth $205 billion by the year 2025. The microbe inspired pharmaceutical industry could also have billion dollar implications. How much of this will make it back to the Endorois people and the Kenyan government?

The Kenyan government and Endorois people should fight for better benefits in perpetuity. Especially now more than ever with increasing pressure caused by failed government projects and national debt. The Kenyan government has to adapt and be more creative with how much value they place on local resources that form the back-bone of billion dollar industries.

“The industrial enzymes that have their origins in Lake Bogoria could have huge benefits for Kenya’s economy and society at large,” says Kavagi, a United Nations environmental ecosystems expert.

Instead of looking for outside help the Kenyan government could focus on properly utilizing what they already have. Increased taxation is never a sign of a healthy economy and if suitable alternatives can be found then they have to be actively pursued until the benefits are realized.

(This article was inspired by UN environment’s news & stories)

Lake Bogoria