By Obiabin Onukwugha
Foremost environmentalist, Dr. Nnimmo Bassey has stated that Nigeria does not need Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) to feed her growing population.
GMOs have been a subject of concern in agriculture due to its attendant risks on human health.
Bassey made the submission while delivering a paper titled: “GMOs and Human Right”, at a workshop for human rights lawyers in Abuja at the weekend.
The environmental activist posited that Nigerian farmers needed government support in terms of access to credits, land, infrastructure and markets so as to boost production and achieve food security.
He said: “The truth, distinguished participants, is that we don’t need GMOs to feed our population. This technology threatens the lives and rights of our local farmers who have selected and preserved seeds, crops, and animal varieties over the centuries. Our farmers have kept the stock of varieties that both provide food and meet our medicinal, cultural and other needs.
“In a country like Nigeria, consumers are unable to exercise the right to chose whether or not to consume GMOs due to the peculiar way food is sold and consumed. We cannot label the foods and seeds largely sold on the roadside, in the traffic, and in an assortment of our informal markets. This is if labelling were to even be successfully enforced.
“What is needed to enhance food production in Nigeria is the provision of supports to our family farmers and the adoption of farming methods that enhance the health of our soils.
“Healthy soils build ecosystem resilience to environmental stressors and build biodiversity instead of encouraging monocultures which are vulnerable to pests. We need a system that supports farmers with needed access to credits, land, infrastructure and access to markets. We have a moral obligation to steward the Earth’s resources responsibly and to preserve the integrity of our ecosystems for present and future generations. These and more are what agroecology does.”
According to Bassey, Nigeria, like many other African nations, stands at a crossroads to her food future. He said the stark choice is between adopting agricultural biotechnology in line with the industrial agriculture model or agroecology (regenerative agriculture).
“The former, in the guise of enhancing agricultural productivity, and fostering economic development, locks in monocultures, loss of biodiversity, seed monopoly and seed/food colonialism, while the latter delivers increased productivity and economic resilience and also nourishes and revives ecosystems, strengthens local economies, mitigates climate/environmental crises and promotes food sovereignty.
“As judiciary officials in various capacities, entrusted with upholding the rule of law and ensuring justice prevails in our society, it is imperative that we are well-versed in the intricacies of this rapidly evolving field and risky technology.
“GMOs ride on the wave of global fetishization of technology by which technology is considered a silver bullet. Besides posing difficulties to regulatory frameworks, they directly impact on human as well as socio-economic rights of our peoples.
“The complex threats and attendant risks of this technology makes it expedient that we examine the implications of GMOs through the lens of fundamental human rights. It is important to understand that GMOs represent a paradigm shift in agriculture. These are plants, animals, or microorganisms that have undergone fundamental changes at the cellular level and can no longer be considered natural.
“Most of them are engineered to withstand dangerous herbicides which kill other species except the engineered ones. Other crops are genetically engineered to act as pesticides ostensibly to kill identified pests that would otherwise attack the crop or seeds. Examples include Bt Cotton and Bt Cowpea or beans approved for commercial release in Nigeria. The implication of eating a seed engineered to kill a pest is that you are actually eating a pesticide with unexamined implications including on the microbes in our guts,” he stated.
Bassey regretted that despite decades of GMOs application in the agricultural sector, Nigeria like many countries of the world still suffers food shortages.
“GMOs are promoted in Nigeria on the premise of addressing food insecurity. However, after almost three decades since their introduction in the world, they have not eradicated or reduced hunger. Rather, they lock in the system that promotes hunger by degrading soils, reducing biodiversity, disregarding the knowledge of local food producers, and concentrating power in the hands of a few market players.
“The hope of Nigeria dominating the international market and generating billions of US dollars is a pipe dream as nations who do not endorse genetically modified crops will not accept our products unless we wish to further make capital on the opacity in the handling and trading of these and other seeds,” he added.