National Conference Demands Outright Ban On GMOs In Nigeria
A National Conference on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), and Biosafety in Nigeria has demanded on behalf of the Nigerian people – farmers, researchers, civil society organizations, faith-based organisations, academia, women and youth, an outright ban on GMOs and a preservation of Nigeria’s indigenous seeds and food system.
The Conference also called for an urgent review of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), to address existing loopholes including the conflictive composition of the NBMA Board, absence of provision on strict liability, poor attention to the precautionary principle, the discretionary provision on risk assessment, power to receive gifts among others.
These were contained in a communique issued at the end of the conference in which participants, urged the NBMA to produce for peer review, results of risk assessments conducted prior to the approval and commercial release of GMOs in Nigeria.
Participants at the conference also challenged the Nigerian Government to ensure improved support for small holder farmers who are actually feeding the country, adding that this should include reviving the extension service system across all local governments; increased provision of infrastructure to reduce post-harvest losses); addressing insecurity to allow farmers return to farms; ensuring better access to credit and to land; and proper remediation of oil polluted soils (in the Niger Delta and other mining impacted communities).
The conference communique also called on the House of Representatives Committees on Agriculture and Services; Health and Environment to ensure an independent and long-term research on GMOs and biosafety as was announced in May 2024.
Similarly, the conference called on the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to invest in and promote the adoption of an Agroecological system of farming which is proven to assure increased food productivity, diversify income for farmers, recover degraded soils, increase biological and nutritional diversity, mitigate climate change and its impact and ensure food sovereignty for Nigeria.
The communique further called on the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food security to promote the setup of markets for organic/agroecological food products in Nigeria.
The conference noted that in almost 30 years since the introduction of GMOs, they haven’t solved the problem of hunger in countries where they have been deployed or in the world, stressing that there is no evidence of a country which has eradicated food insecurity using GMOs.
According to the Communique; “GMOs are mostly driven by greed and profit maximisation rather than the need to address hunger or food insecurity. Currently, this technology is dominated by a small number of corporations. (Four companies control 60 per cent of the global seed supply: Bayer (merged with Monsanto), Corteva, ChemChina and Limagrain.
“These companies engage in the development and patenting of genetically modified (GM) seeds, also known as genetically modified organisms (GMOs)).
“There is significant linkage of consumption of GMOs with several health and environmental implications including cancers, mental health disorders, immune disorders as well as loss of nutritional and biological diversity.
“The question of safety of GMOs in Nigeria is left unanswered. So far, there is no evidence of independent, long term risk assessment conducted by the National Biosafety Management Agency which is saddled with this
responsibility.
“There is a need to critically consider the underlying causes of food insecurity in Nigeria – bad governance, insecurity, climate change, poor extension service, lack of storage/processing infrastructure, soil degradation, poverty, inequalities etc. which directly affect agricultural productivity. GMOs are not the solution to these.
“The idea of labelling to ensure the right to choose is in our law but it has not been implemented due to our peculiar socio-economic context.
“The promoters of GMOs including the regulator -NBMA have not bothered to label foods sold in open markets in bowls and by the roadside,” it stated.
The communique also noted that since the setup of the National Biosafety Management Agency Act in 2015, more than 20 different crop varieties have been approved by the Agency for various purposes, including commercial release/market placement.
It said; “As of 28th June 2024, according to information available on the Biosafety Clearing House (where countries that are signatories to the Biological Convention on Biodiversity are required to upload information regarding decisions on GMOs), Nigeria has approved 25 GM products – 11 for field trials; 4 for commercial release; and 10 for food, feed and/or processing.
“The last updated information on the BCH website as of 28th June 2024 is from the decision made in April 2023, which was uploaded on 31 December 2023. Information regarding these decisions/approvals is not available on the website of the NBMA.
“These approvals were given without regard for objections (based on scientific analyses) by HOMEF and other organisations representing millions of Nigerians.
“There are key concerns with the deployment of GMOs in Nigeria, including the faulty regulatory architecture, lack of
evidence of unbiased risk assessment conducted; poor/no access to information, health and environmental hazards, as well as economic implications threatening food security.
“Since the most recent approval, i.e of the TELA Maize genetically modified to be pest resistant and drought tolerant, there has been an uproar of concerns in the country.
“GMOs can be used as biological weapons due to the ability to alter genetic material of species and to drive extinction. Industrial agriculture has led to the treatment of food as a mere commodity and corporate control of seeds – production and sales, food packaging, agricultural machinery and agrochemicals in the world today.
“The Bt Crops have been linked to soil degradation through the destruction of soil microbiota leading to reduced productivity/yields.
“Major concerns expressed by the public include the secrecy with which these GMOs are deployed, the implication of corporate control of seeds on the Nigerian food system, the contamination of the country’s local genetic resources, environmental degradation, health implications and more,” it said.
It also noted that in May 2024, the House of Representatives adopted a motion to probe the introduction of GMOs in Nigeria and urged the Federal Government to suspend introduction of new Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) crops in the country, saying the move was a laudable decision that must be followed up to ensure that the investigation process is unbiased and that the concerned Agencies have all the relevant information on which to base their recommendations.
A statement by Kome Odhomor, HOMEF Media/Communication Lead, stated that the Multi-Stakeholder National Conference was organised by Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) in collaboration with GMO-Free Nigeria Alliance organized to cohesively address the various concerns regarding biosafety and particularly GMOs, review the experience so far; and come up with clear resolutions regarding their release and use as well as solutions for food sovereignty in Nigeria.
