Stakeholders in the agricultural sector on Wednesday decried the high influx of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) into the food system in Nigeria.
The stakeholders who spoke at the National convergence and food festival organised by the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) in Benin, sought promotion of organic farming, which they said was good for a healthy living and environment.
One of the panelist at the discussion, Mrs Ejim Nnenna, said research found out the GMO activities had impact on the health of the people as well as the wealth of farmers.
Nnenna, who is a farmer and founder, Network of Women and Youth in Agriculture, said farmers were being push from known to unknown as information about the compositions of the GMO crops are kept away from the agriculturists.
“As a matter of fact, we need to rethink and go back to organic farming because that is the way. The whole society is affected by this.
“We are not talking about policies here because our policies are superb, but implementation is the problem,” she said.
Similarly, Dr. Jackie Ikeotuonye of the BFA Integrative Health and Wellness Centre said she was more concerned about the GMO when those supposed to regulate became the promoters of the modified crops.
She, however, called on the government to support to organic farming and agroecology, which she said were natural and traditional.
Ikeotuonye advised Nigerians to be conscious of what they eat, adding, GMO are man-made created, hence they could pose hazard on the lives of the people.
Prof. Tatfeng Mirabeau of the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Niger Delta University, Bayelsa State decried the huge investment going into the influx of GMO at the expense of natural farming, which he said was more healthier.
While speaking, Mr Nnimmo Bassey, Director, HOMEF said Nigeria’s food system had been very challenged mostly in recent years simply because of the introduction of more or less unregulated genetically engineered organisms into the country.
“We are concerned with the population, Nigerians are forced to eat what they do not know. Farmers are given genetically modified seeds and they are not aware are genetically modified.
“So people are planting what they don’t know and they are eating what they don’t know. We believe the health of Nigerians is being compromised this way; also compromising the health of the environment.
“At the end of the day, Nigerians are exposed to the erosion of our culture, of our biodiversity and indeed our heritage.
“We believe government should support farmers who are the main producers of food and government should take steps to avoid promotion of monoculture or a kind of agriculture that is not based on biological diversity,” Bassey said.
Bassey said the foundation organised the convergence of the stakeholders to create awareness on the ills of the artificial crops.
“Unfortunately, Nigerian Government has been accepting a very wrong narrative. Most of our foods are being produced by local farmers without any support from the government either artificial input or organic input.
“They don’t have road to the villages where they can bring in their produces to the market. Farmers are struggling on their own without serious support from the government.
“We don’t even have extension officers that government used to have to go to villages.
“We believe that by speaking to ourselves; and farmers speaking to their neighbours and students learning what is good for their future, we can pass this message to those who matters and for those who are practising in food production,” Bassey said.
