…We Don’t Need GMOs To Feed Nigerians, Farmers Insist

…GMOs Enhance Crop Yields, Food Security, Pest And Insect Resistance — Dr. Gidado

 Nigerian President Bola Tinubu’s decision to advocate for the use of Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) seeds, despite strong opposition, has sparked heated debates and raised critical questions about the country’s intersection of science, agriculture, and policy. Tinubu’s support for GMO seeds marks a departure from traditional agricultural practices and has elicited a range of reactions from stakeholders, including farmers, environmentalists, and policymakers. As experts weigh in on this contentious issue, unpacking Tinubu’s support for GMO technology and delving into the nuances of the opposition he faces reveals a complex tapestry of factors shaping Nigeria’s agricultural landscape as well as the region’s broader discourse on food security, sustainability, and innovation. SEYI TAIWO-OGUNTUASE writes

 Despite decades of opposition to GMO seeds and crops, Pres­ident Bola Tinubu approved their use last week. Some critics claimed that by using GMO maize seedlings, the government has forced Nigerians into slavery, disease, and poverty. Others see it as a positive step towards achieving national food security.

Over the last decade, crop farmers’ use of Genetically Modified Organ­isms (GMOs), also known as GMO seeds, has sparked heated debate among Nigerian and international scientists, environmentalists, and even food activists.

Some argue that GMOs are not a cure-all for food insecurity and that the government should address insecuri­ty and farmer/herder conflict as soon as possible so that farmers can farm freely and effectively. They claimed that GMOs are promoted under the false premise of addressing food insecuri­ty and that Nigeria’s food productivity and hunger challenges are primarily caused by conflicts, insecurity, pov­erty, inequalities, a lack of basic in­frastructure, subsidies, power imbal­ances/power inequalities, a lax and watered-down regulatory framework, corporate interference in government policy, and inadequate extension ser­vices.

Experts believe that the true solu­tion to Nigeria’s food security problem is to address the root causes of pover­ty, inflation, insecurity, conflicts, and gender discrimination, emphasising that the cost of GMOs in terms of ecological damage, biodiversity loss, health, and economic implications far outweigh any apparent short-term benefits.

The experts also advised the Ni­gerian government to consider the uniqueness of the Nigerian agricul­tural landscape and take the right ap­proach, which is agroecology, as this will ensure both food security and food sovereignty.

“Allowing genetically modified or­ganisms to dominate our food system is analogous to returning to slavery.

“We should not let the big guys derail us with unfounded terms and unrealistic promises,” the experts ad­vised.

GMO supporters, on the other hand, claimed that they would boost agricultural productivity while also ensuring the country’s food security. They claimed that GMOs increase crop yields, food security, pest and insect re­sistance, water conservation, drought tolerance, economic growth, and small­holder farmer empowerment.

On January 11 this year, the Fed­eral Government openly approved the open cultivation and commercial release of TELA maize, which is said to be a transgenic insect-resistant and drought-tolerant variety along with other ‘high-yielding crop varieties’, while Mexico, the centre of origin of maize, halted the cultivation of genet­ically engineered maize to preserve local and more nutritious varieties despite heavy pressures from vested interests.

Uche Nnaji, Nigeria’s Minister of Innovation, Science, and Technology, stated at a press conference in Abuja that the crop’s commercial release was a significant step towards increasing agricultural productivity and ensur­ing the country’s food security.

He also stated that this move would strengthen Nigeria’s position in the global agricultural landscape, foster­ing economic stability and opening up new trade and export opportunities and that the benefits of the release were far-reaching, promising increased crop yields, greater resilience to pests and diseases, lower environmental impact, and improved nutrition content.

While applauding the Federal Gov­ernment’s efforts to combat food inse­curity in Nigeria, the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) was dis­appointed by the release of genetically modified varieties.

The organisation stated that there is no evidence of a risk assessment conducted before the release of the TELA Maize on either the website of the National Biosafety Manage­ment Agency (the agency in charge of regulating GMO uses) or the Bio­safety Clearing House of the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity, where parties are expected to upload updates on their decisions/use of GMOs/LMOs.

Nnimmo Bassey, Executive Direc­tor of HOMEF, stated that it is com­pletely unacceptable for the country to expose its citizens to risky technologies in the name of food security without conducting adequate, independent, and/or long-term assessments of their effects on human and environmental health.

“There are numerous challenges associated with genetically modified crops that we must address. GMOs have been linked to cancers, diseases, allergies, and a variety of health prob­lems as a result of environmental consequences such as their reliance on toxic pesticides and the loss of bio­diversity and nutritional diversity.”

He emphasised that the govern­ment should conduct independent long-term feeding tests as well as envi­ronmental/biodiversity assessments before approving any GMO crop for use, rather than simply testing for productivity or performance.

Joyce Brown, HOMEF’s Director of Programmes and Project Lead for Hunger Politics added, “GMOs are not required to feed our population. Over the centuries, our farmers have care­fully selected and preserved seed, crop, and animal varieties. They have kept a supply of various types that provide food, medicine, and other necessities. They upheld biodiversity-protecting norms. Open cultivation and commer­cial release of TELA maize endangers our farmers’ lives and livelihoods.”

According to her, the most import­ant things are to improve soil health, which ensures resilience to environ­mental stressors; to promote biodiver­sity over monocultures, which allows pests to thrive; and to provide farmers with the necessary credit, land, infra­structure, and market access.

Lovelyn Ejim, a farmer and Direc­tor of The Network of Women and Youth in Agriculture, urged other farmers to band together and reject the approval.

“It is critical that farmers speak with one voice. Allowing GMOs to dominate our food system is equivalent to return­ing to slavery. We should not allow the big guys to derail us with unfounded terms and unrealistic promises.”

In her recent presentation titled ‘Overview of Biotechnology and Im­portance of GMOs Application for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Se­curity,’ Dr. Rose Gidado, Director of the Agricultural Biotechnology Depart­ment at the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NBMA), stated that Nigeria is one of the most pop­ulous countries in Africa, with a rapidly growing population that is expected to reach 400 million by 2050, and that agriculture is a critical sector.

According to her, Nigerian agricul­ture faces numerous challenges, such as low productivity, pests and diseases, climate change, and post-harvest loss. She stated that as the population grows and traditional plant improvement methods reach their limits, agricul­tural growth has slowed to 1% from 3% in the 1970s.

Gidado emphasised some of the ad­vantages of GMOs, such as increased crop yields, food security, pest and in­sect resistance, water conservation and drought tolerance, economic growth, and the empowerment of smallholder farmers.

Concerns about GMOs have been raised, including safety and health risks, environmental consequences, ethical and moral concerns, patenting and ownership of genetic resources, and unequal access and benefits. She explained that to address some of these concerns, GM crops are rigorously tested for safety and regulated by gov­ernments all over the world, and that in Nigeria, the NBMA is the National Competent Authority on the Safety of GMOs, conducting extensive safety testing.

“Biotechnology and GMOs have the potential to transform Nigeria’s agricultural system by addressing food security, sustainability, and economic challenges.”

She also stated that collaborative efforts, informed policies, and public participation will be critical in real­ising biotechnology’s full potential in Nigerian agriculture.

Professor Qrisstuberg Amua, Exec­utive Director of the Centre for Food Safety and Agricultural Research (CEFSAR), stated in his presentation on ‘Ethical Concerns Related to Alter­ing Natural Organisms-Challenges/ Controversies’ that agriculture is rap­idly changing as a result of advances in molecular biology, genomics, and biotechnology, as well as the applica­tion of genomics to agriculture, raising important scientific, ethical, and social concerns.

He stated that agricultural vari­eties created through direct genetic modification are now being approved for planting and that GMO-derived products are widely available on the market. He stated that many concerns about GMOs and their long-term effects have not been addressed, as well as his con­cern that GMOs have not been around long enough and that their impact on the food supply is unknown because GMO-containing foods are not labelled.

Dr Victor Olumekun, Professor of Plant Science at Adekunle Ajasin Uni­versity in Akungba Akoko, stated in his presentation on the ‘Contribution of Biotechnology and GMOs to Food Security in Nigeria,’ that the key issues are sustainable agriculture and food security, with biotechnology serving as a tool.