By Alex Abutu
Recently, a group of Africans were celebrated at a ceremony in Accra, Ghana for their contributions to Africa’s quest to attain food and nutritional security and among them was Arc. Kabiru Ibrahim, President, All Farmers Association of Nigeria.
The award was put together by the Kenyan-based Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB), a Pan-African platform established by African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) for the dissemination of credible information and awareness generation as well as to deepen understanding on biotechnology. The platform is currently operating in 10 African countries.
Arc Ibrahim, according to the award organizers, was honored for contributing to the accelerated development of biotechnology for increased agricultural productivity on the African continent.
The AFAN President is currently pulling millions of farmers into the adoption of genetically modified crops through his untiring and firm campaign for GM technology. Beyond being a committed believer of Agricultural Biotechnology, Arc Kabir is a strong advocate and campaigner of the technology.
When Nigeria’s first transgenic Pod-Borer Resistant Cowpea variety was just commercialized into the Nigerian Market, Arc Kabir was one of the first stakeholders who purchased the variety in large quantities and planted on his farm.
His celebration in Accra, Ghana is of great importance because he is one of the few Nigerians who think that the quest to feed ourselves as Africa’s most populous nation cannot be achieved with the ‘hoe and cutlass’ mentality.
On the national scene, he has stood tall as a firm believer in the slogan, No farmer, No nation, no wonder he is at the forefront of encouraging farmers to try agricultural biotechnology. He was recently quoted as saying that the increasing population of Nigeria presents both a challenge and an opportunity for farmers.
“The challenge is that farmers are expected to produce food that is capable of solving the problem of hunger and nutrition on the same small pieces of land that they cultivate every year. This challenge opens the door to opportunities for the farmer as he has to make the decision to innovate and that opportunity only comes when he embraces technology.”
I’ve lost count of the number of television and radio interviews where he has taken the opportunity to sensitize the public and his fellow farmers on the safety, benefits and applications of biotechnology.
There is a lot of talk about getting the head to understand and the led to follow according, but this age-long adage has been perfectly exemplified by Arc Kabiru. His personal belief in the efficacy and conviction on the relevance of agricultural biotechnology motivated his public support for the technology and he has therefore convinced thousands of Nigerian farmers to cultivate the two genetically modified crops approved in the country.
When some senators sponsored a bill aimed at stopping Nigeria’s exploits in biotechnology, Arc Kabir led Nigerian farmers to the public hearing called by the Senate Committee on Environment.
He told the committee that biotechnology offered Nigeria the most potent option of reviving the moribund textile industries that once used to be a great job provider for Nigerians. He narrated the suffering of the average Nigerian farmers who spend so much planting crops but is rewarded with low yielding harvests due to emerging diseases, insects and pests which are aggravated by climate change.
Arc Kabir is indeed a true champion of the technology and an advocate whose decisions on the adoption of technology in agriculture is rooted in sound knowledge with evidence-based facts.
His contributions were recognized and acknowledged by Nairobi-based OFAB, one fact worthy of pointing out about the Katsina-born Architect is that, at a time when Nigeria lacked champions to lead the biotechnology revolution, based on the controversy and distorted information been circulated about the technology, he stood by science and mobilized his association to embrace the technology with both hands.
The anti-technology groups told farmers that adopting GM will not bring about productivity, Arc. Kabiru proved them wrong because he planted and used his farm as a demonstration plot for others farmers to see.
Lets us therefore join millions of Nigerian farmers to celebrate this achiever who is leading the charge for greater food security in Nigeria and whose intellectual prowess in agriculture, food and nutritional security have continued to attract both national and international accolade.