Follow Us on Google
From Okwe Obi, Abuja
As hunger and malnutrition, accentuated by insecurity, poverty and climate change ravage rural Nigeria, a major debate on the best pathway to achieving food security rages.
Stakeholders ask; should the age-old practice of agroecology that nurtures the soil and protects livelihoods be junked for the modern lure of genetic engineering that promises higher yields?
The debate has split experts, farmers and policymakers, with each side warning of consequences for food safety, livelihoods and the environment.
While some stakeholders stoutly support agroecology (working with nature to grow food in a sustainable way), others believe that with the growing population across the country and beyond, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) crops should be adopted.
Also, it is believed that with GMOs, millions of smallholder farmers would lose their sources of livelihood as there would be no market or farmland for them to trade, as technology will take over their jobs.
A Professor of Inorganic and Bioinorganic Chemistry, Qrisstuberg Amua, pointed out that studies have raised concerns about the unintended ecological consequences of genetically engineered crops, including the development of superweeds and resistance among pests.
Amua argued that the inappropriate adoption of GMOs, which are tantamount to gain-of-function research from externally promoted research funded by foreign commercial interests, poses a tangible risk to food safety, human health, and ecological conservation.
According to him, these realities demand that Nigeria should establish a dynamic regulatory framework that promotes in-country research and innovation while genuinely safeguarding biosafety, and not the current regime of captured and compromised national regulators turned GMO and hazardous pesticide promoters, merchandising foreign business interests.
He added: “Research must serve as a vehicle for enlightenment rather than exploitation of Nigeria’s inherent capacity for vulnerabilities.
“By fostering interdisciplinary collaborations and prioritizing bioresource utilization within an ecological conservation framework, we Nigerian researchers can chart a course toward true genomic and varietal preservation and biosafety that is as progressive as it is protective.
“As stewards of experimental research, we must ensure that our scientific pursuits harmonize with Nigeria’s unique agroecological contexts and the principles of sustainability in bioresource utilisation and ecological conservation.”
Other News
Also, Programme Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Joyce Brown, tasked the Federal Government to support and promote agroecology as a viable option to boost food production.
Brown, who spoke recently in Abuja, explained that agroecology involves mixed cropping, crop rotation, and cover cropping, among others, adding that the initiative increases biodiversity, reduces chemical inputs, and ensures increased productivity while enhancing Nigeria’s food system resilience.
She said that strict application of the principles of agroecology would also protect the environment and focus on building soil health through appropriate farming practices.
She reiterated that GMOs should not be allowed to penetrate the Nigerian market as they would pose serious health challenges.
Also, Prof. Olugbenga Adeoluwa of the Department of Soil Resource Management, University of Ibadan, explained that agroecology was not against new technology.
Adeoluwa said: “Many people that are supporting GMOs do not understand the underlying agenda, which is business, control, and monopoly.
“We should understand this and not be fooled.”
But the Director General of the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), Prof. Abdullahi Mustapha, dispelled claims on the harmful effects of GMOs.
According to him, the technology brings a lot of benefits, it mitigates climate change, increases yields, creates wealth, and helps tackle drought conditions.
Mustapha also clarified that “There is no ceding of Nigeria’s food sovereignty to anyone. The seed companies are spread across the nation, and they are indigenous companies, so how do we cede our food sovereignty to another country?
“GMO seeds or any other improved seeds will give high yield. However, when you keep using it yearly, the quality keeps depreciating.”
