1. THE Stakeholders Workshop on Food Sovereignty and Genetically Modified Organisms, GMOs, which held on June 6, has decided on 14-point resolutions to boost food sovereignty and food safety.

Organised by the Health of Mother Earth Foundation, HOMEF, and held at Apo Apartments in Abuja, the workshop resolved that there should be a review of the National Biosafety Management Act. This, it argued that there were many loopholes that could be easily be manipulated to allow GMOs into the country.
It said government should be encouraged to invest on research and empower scientists “especially those that are not tied to the biotech corporations to investigate both short term and future impact of GMOs on the Nigerian environment, her culture and the health of individuals.”

The resolution said among others: “The needs of the people must be taken into consideration in policy and decision making especially in matters of food which affects everybody. Top down decisions may end up being counterproductive. Majority of our farmers are family or smallholder farmers and they are in the best position to say the challenges they are faced with and are capable of sharing knowledge on how those can be overcome without compromising the health of the people.

“Loans, grants and extension services should be made available to farmers especially, those in the rural areas to boost agricultural activities. Increased access to land and tools are essential for improving productivity.

“Stakeholders at this meeting agreed that Organic farming is a more sustainable solution for provision of safe and healthy food as it allows farmers to control and save their seeds, enriches the soil and preserves biodiversity. The organic sector of the Ministry of Agriculture should be empowered to provide extension service to farmer.

“Organic seed banks should be created in our different ecological zones to safeguard our indigenous seeds and secure our biodiversity.

“Focus should be on reducing post-harvest losses by providing proper storage facilities and creating bridges between the farms and the markets. The problem is more of food wastage than of food shortages.

“GMOs should be restricted to laboratories. The recall of GMOs after they have contaminated ou environment will be very slim. Restriction to research laboratories will product Nigerians from the health and environmental impacts.

“Investigation is required into the uprooting of young plants by unidentified agents in many regions and also the conflicts between famers and pastoralists should be urgently resolved.

“The issue of GMOs in Nigeria is beyond food. It represents an approach which neglects the rights of individuals to choose and control what they eat. The Workshop resolved to demand respect for the rights of the public to safe food. It was also noted that the peculiarities of our context including our informal marketing systems do not allow for standard labelling of products as may work elsewhere and this exposes us to unque risks that cannot be ignored.

“Farm produce are as good as the soil and the soil on the other hand is as good as the organic contents in it. To experience good yield and increase productivity, the soil must be carefully managed and protected from chemicals which destroy its natural composition. GMOs and their accompanying agrochemicals negatively impact on the quality of soils.

“It was also agreed that one agency cannot adequately address the issues of Biosafety in Nigeria. There is need for a strong collective effort to protect our interests, culture, environment and health.

“The masses are largely unaware of the state of biosafety in the country. A majority do not know about what GMOs are about and how it affects them. One of the strong points made at this event was that of increasing awareness among the people of the dangers of GMOs. We agreed that this information should be spread especially in the rural areas and in languages that the people can easily understand.

“The workshop resolved that the permits issued by NBMA for GMO varieties (Maize and Cotton) should be withdrawn. The failure of similar GM cotton variety in Burkina Faso and its being banned in that country two weeks before their approval in Nigeria was noted as a cogent reason for concern. The deployment of genetically modified cassava and beans in Nigeria was denounced and participants called for a halt on all fronts.”
— Jun 19, 2017 @ 01:00 GMT