By Edu Abade
In a bid to achieve healthier food system and diet, some groups of food safety advocates, the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) and the GMO-Free Nigeria Alliance have urged the Federal Government to place a moratorium on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) crops and their products in Nigeria.
Speaking on the sidelines of this year’s World Food Safety Day, they canvassed an urgent need for transformation of Nigeria’s food systems to ensure availability, accessibility and affordability of healthy foods and to ensure resilience to environmental challenges, including climate change.
The groups, however, rejected a technology which disadvantages far outweigh potential advantages that benefit only a handful of people such as the biotech corporations and their allies.
Executive Director of HOMEF, Dr. Nnimmo Bassey, stated that a moratorium on GMOs, including nullification of previous permits and approvals, remain critical because GMOs are designed not to address food insecurity but to consolidate control of food and farming system in the hands of a few corporations and seed industries.
A statement issued by HOMEF Media and Communication Lead/Oilwatch Africa Communications Officer, ‘Kome Odhomor, quoted Bassey as saying: “This is known by the patent rights enforced on the products, which prohibit farmers from saving, sharing or replanting the seeds. Even those without the patent restrictions, when replanted, yield poorly.
“This is a calculated attack on Nigeria’s food sovereignty and must be seen as such. Seed saving and sharing is an age-long culture in Nigeria, where farming is about 80 percent informal, with farmers being able to select and improve seeds using traditional methods and being able to exchange the same.
“It is worthy of note that the Cotton Farmers’ Association of Nigeria in 2024 noted that in about three years since they were given the Bt Cotton to plant, they haven’t recorded any significant increase in yields compared to the indigenous varieties; instead they have observed that their soils become unproductive after they planted the genetically modified cotton.”
Also speaking on why a moratorium is urgently needed, a molecular biologist and researcher, Dr. Ifeanyi Casmir, noted that there is no evidence of long-term risk assessment conducted by the government on the health impact of GMOs.
He argued that several studies link the consumption of GMOs to diverse health disorders, including immune system dysregulation, increased allergic responses, chronic inflammation and organ toxicity, as well as tumour development, noting that studies have found Bt toxins (Cry1Ab) in 93 percent of pregnant women and 80 percent of fetal cord blood, which increase risks of birth defects, cancer and allergies.
“The fact that the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) cannot show any evidence of independent and extensive risk assessment conducted shows irresponsibility and lack of concern for public health,” he added.
In his intervention, a professor of Medical Microbiology and Immunology Prof. Tatfeng Mirabeau said: “Another critical reason Nigeria should halt GMOs is the impact on the environment. Bt crops like Bt beans that were approved for commercial release in 2019 and 2024 contain proteins that, when released into the soil, destroy soil microorganisms, leading to soil degradation and reduced fertility.
“There have been reported cases of pest resistance leading to the development of super bugs and super weeds in the case of the herbicide-tolerant GMOs, which make up about 80 percent of all GMOs globally. The herbicides designed mostly by the same companies producing the seeds have been shown by studies to destroy not just the target weeds but also beneficial organisms in the ecosystem, including bees.
“GMOs pose a critical risk of genetic contamination of indigenous seed varieties owing to gene transfer. For this reason, Mexico and a host of other countries have placed a total or partial ban on GMOs. We cannot overlook such a grave threat to our plant genetic resources, especially as such contamination is irreversible.”
Deputy Executive Director of ERA/FoEN, Barrister Mariann Bassey-Orovwuje, pointed out that Nigeria currently does not have a policy on open market labeling and as such, the public does not have the right of choice as to whether or not to consume GMOs, adding: “This negates our right of choice and right to safe food.
She further noted that there are fundamental flaws with the current Biosafety Regulatory Agency, including that there is no provision on strict liability, which should ensure that the holder of a permit for any GM product takes responsibility for any negative effects that will ensue.
“Another major flaw in the NBMA Act is the lack of attention to the Precautionary Principle, which simply advises a halt on any process where there are threats to health or environmental impacts from the use of GMOs.
“Nigeria needs to critically address waste, which accounts for about 40 percent of the food produced. In the same vein, Nigeria needs to critically address issues of insecurity/banditry that keep many farmers away from their farms, leading to reduced productivity,” she stated.
The groups stressed that Nigeria could transform its agriculture system in an inclusive and sustainable manner by adopting and promoting agroecology, which not only ensures increased productivity by improving soil health and biodiversity, but also guarantees economic resilience for our farmers as well as climate change resilience.
Insisting that GMOs are not the solution to food insecurity, the maintained that true progress lies in “empowering our farmers through sustainable, inclusive practices that safeguard our land, our people and our future. Nigeria has the potential to lead a truly green and resilient agro-ecological revolution, if we act decisively now!”
