In a move to create awareness on the harmful effects of Genetically Modified Organisms in foods, environmental activists have demanded that there should be a total overhaul of regulatory agency supporting and approving importation of genetically modified crops and foods in Nigeria.
NatureNews.Africa reports that the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), is the agency responsible for regulating biotechnology and Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). The agency rejects or approves GMOs and its activities in Nigeria.
The activists in their demand, charged the Nigerian government to stop the introduction of genetically modified seeds which they describe as ‘’improved seeds’’ to farmers.
The activists made these submissions at a media training on ‘’My food is African campaign’’ on Wednesday, January 25, organized by the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) in Port Harcourt.
The Executive Director of HOMEF, Nnimmo Bassey, while speaking on the implications of consuming GMO foods, decried that many Nigerians including farmers are not aware of what they consume.
According to him, these foods with GMOs are most times brought from the laboratories and are exported to different countries.
He said, ‘’ Farmers are not told they are planting GMOs, they tell them that there are improved seeds. They are deceiving Nigerians to eat unhealthy foods. The biosafety agency should be overhauled.’’
Speaking on how to identify GMO products, he said, ‘’You can identify GMO products by reading the ingredients. They are labelled with the GMO inscription on the products but crops harvested from the farm are always difficult to identify because they are not usually labelled.
‘’This is why it is very dangerous. In other countries, they label the ones that have GMO but in Nigerian markets, they are not labelled. For example we are now having GMO beans and beans sold in the markets are not labelled.
‘’Nigeria’s safety laws require that GMOs should be labelled but it’s not working in reality. We hope that the new government will wake up to fight these things. Africa is really at risk because if there are health issues, we don’t have a health system that can withstand those challenges and Nigeria doesn’t need GMOs to feed its population.’’
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Bassey, who spoke on the topic ‘’ Food, Culture, and Colonialism’’ said that change in African food system can be traced from colonialism through the practice of plantation agriculture.
He said, ‘’ Plantation agriculture encapsulates the core practice of colonialism. It entailed land use conversion — often through massive deforestation and land grabbing. Colonial agriculture thrived not only by producing crops for export, but it also benefited from altering the appetites of the colonized.
‘’These changes did not happen only through advertisements, the indigenous foods were denigrated as uncivilized and sometimes simply forgotten due to a chronic absence of the crops or ingredients for preparing the foods. Today, the erosion of varieties is exacerbated by many related factors including the prevalence of junk foods, hybridization of crop varieties, genetic manipulations, and hostile seed laws.’’
He urged that to revive food systems in Africa, both individuals and African governments should take the first step of liberation and decolonize our food system so that crop varieties can be preserved.
‘’By decolonizing our food system, we are going to rebuild our food system by recovering our culture, supporting farmers with extension services, upgrading rural infrastructure, ensuring farmers have access to land, increasing local varieties and bringing farmers to participate in the formulation and implementation of food policies.
Also speaking on the topic, ‘’Changing diet and right to food sovereignty,’’ Dr Jackie Ikeotuonye, Country Director for Biointegrity and Natural Foods Awareness Initiative, said one of the challenges humans face in food system is the ones created by man.
Ikeotuonye noted that GMOs are unhealthy and cancerous to the human body, highlighting that they are found in processed foods, staple foods and fruits.
She warned that there are no significant advantages of using GMO crops, saying that, Biotechnology companies only introduce GMOs to make profits. She also warned that the assurance of regulatory agency that GMOs are used to fight herbicides, is wrong and deceitful, adding that there are natural foods that are available to feed Nigerian teeming population.
She charged the government to empower farmers with requisite facilities they need to improve food system and agriculture in Nigeria.
Programmes manager of HOMEF, Joyce Brown, while speaking on regulations and laws against GMOs, informed that research has shown that over 30 different products mostly imported from USA, China, India and South Africa, labelled to be produced with genetically modified ingredients are in the Nigerian market. She said that cereals, vegetable oils, spices and processed foods contain GMOs.
She urged the media to give objective information about GMOs to the public so that the layman can become aware and take proactive measures against it.
