Modern Agricultural Biotechnology Undermines Nigeria’s food sovereignty- HOMEF Warns
Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) has warned that modern agricultural biotechnology directly undermines Nigerian pursuit of food sovereignty and it is one of the key causes of hunger and malnutrition.
The organisation gave the warning while marking the World Food Day held every year on October 16th.
According to the Executive Director of HOMEF, Nnimmo Bassey, modern agricultural biotechnology also poses a threat to Nigeria’s dignity and the continent’s fundamental right to refuse foods laden with uncertain health consequences and an agriculture system that stresses their ecosystems.
Bassey who called for the removal of genetically modified foods from Nigerians shelves said transnational corporations leverage the current food crises to advance an atrocious agenda to gain control over the world’s food systems.
He noted that while observing the World Food Day, one big challenge before Nigeria is to protect its food, including water, from the new wave of colonialism that is systematically taking hold of food systems across the globe.
The Executive Director added “GMOs are being pushed into our food system without stringent government regulations. People do not know the implications of growing or eating GM foods because the population is not given information on the risks related to the technology.
“In Nigeria, approvals for importing GMOs are granted without adequate public notice and proper and independent health and environmental impact assessments. It is improper for our farmers to be given seeds to grow without telling them what they are planting or what eventually will end up on the consumer’s plate.”
Bassey further charged Nigerians to be intentional about what is on their plates. “We must not fail as individuals to ensure that what goes into our stomachs is safe. We must demand accountability from regulatory agencies to ensure that food products approved for import are wholesome, meet the dietary requirements of the people, and support the local economy.”
He said that marking World Food Day should encourage people, organizations, and governments to unravel the root of hunger and malnutrition, address food injustice, and abuse of farmers’ rights, adding that the day is a reminder of the avoidable fate of millions worldwide who suffer from hunger despite abundant natural and human resources.
Joyce Brown, HOMEF’s Director of Programme, echoed that agroecology can feed the world, cool the planet, and help local farmers adapt to climate change impacts.
She said “Governments worldwide who want to address food insecurity and take meaningful climate action must invest in agroecology – the foundation for a positive transformation of food systems. Agroecology ensures optimum water and other resources use, revives soils and the ability to hold in carbon, uses renewable energy, and promotes shorter food supply chains while making healthy and nutritionally diverse food available to all”.
Mariann Bassey-Orovwuje, the Deputy Director of Environmental Rights Action/ Friends of the Earth Nigeria on her part noted that food is a central and integral part of any society, and it creates a connection between our beliefs, ethnicity, and cultural heritage.
She said that food is not just a part of culture; it defines culture.
“What we eat and how we eat provides much information about specific cultures. Food, water, and soil are all interconnected and are not commodities. They are a sacred, life-affirming, and central composite of every existing society”.
Orovwuje stressed that our food and producers must be treated with respect and dignity. She called for policies that celebrate the smallholder farmers who produce over 70 percent of the food consumed globally. “We need deep-rooted changes in how agriculture is practiced and how the food system is organised and regulated. We need to wean our food system from corporate control and concentration and keep seeds in the hands of small-scale farmers.”
HOMEF recommended that as the people celebrate World Food Day, they must squarely face and find ways to resolve the underlying structural and systemic issues behind hunger and malnutrition – poverty, food waste, conflicts, inequality, imperialist plunder, and poor public policies.
The organisation noted that Nigerians must champion an agriculture system that minimizes environmental impact, ensures food security for present and future generations, reduces food waste, and promotes responsible consumption.
HOMEF called on the government of Nigeria to increase support for farmers by protecting their rights to seeds providing extension service and security in crisis-prone areas of the country.