A cross section of line Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in collaboration with the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) have reviewed and validated a National Biosafety Mainstreaming Strategy that will further strengthen the biosafety regulatory regime and its inclusion in various sectors of the economy.

The National Biosafety Mainstreaming Strategy document developed by the NBMA was presented, reviewed and validated by representatives of line Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) at an awareness seminar for key policy and decision makers which held on Friday, October 12, 2018 in Abuja.

The strategy is to among other things ensure continued effectiveness of the national biosafety system and synergy with sister MDAs for national growth and economic development.

In his opening remarks, the Director General/Chief Executive Officer, NBMA, Dr. Rufus Ebegba, stated: “In line with the need for collaboration and partnership among government institutions underscored by the present administration, the Agency has taken it upon itself to regularly engage relevant stakeholders for their input in its decision-making process.”

The strategy document identifies legislations and policies of line MDAs and analyses the entry points for biosafety to ensure smooth synergy with each institution. Some MDAs included in the strategy are: Federal Ministry of Environment (FMENV), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC), Consumer Protection Council (CPC), National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) and Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI).

Representatives of the MDAs present conveyed their willingness to continue to work with NBMA in the regulation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to ensure that the practice of modern biotechnology does not pose any harm to human and the environment.

Recall that NBMA already has functional MoUs with NAFDAC, NASC, NAQS and the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) in line with the fulfilment of its mandate to ensure adequate level of protection in the field of safe transfer, handling and use of GMOs.

An international organisation, Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology in Africa (OFAB), has advised Nigerian farmers to take advantage of the newly approved Genetically Modified (GM) cotton varieties to boost cotton production.

Country Coordinator of OFAB, Dr Rose Gidado, gave the advice in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday, October 12, 2018.

She said that the cultivation of the GM cotton varieties would significantly improve cotton production, when compared to the use of the conventional varieties.

She added that the average yield of the GM cotton varieties was about 4.1 to 4.4 tonnes per hectare, while the average yield of the local varieties was about 250 to 900kg per hectare.

“I want to inform you that we have two GM varieties of cotton that have been released for commercialisation so that farmers can have access to these varieties that have very high yields.

“With encouragement and support from the Federal Government, Nigeria has registered its home-grown GM cotton varieties, saving our farmers the trouble of contending with the local conventional variety which is no longer accepted at the international market.

“These new varieties, which have just been officially registered, have the potential of being adopted in all the cotton growing zones of Nigeria and they have a maturity period of 150 to160 days,’’ she said.

The cotton varieties, which are Nigeria’s first home-grown GM cotton varieties, were approved at the 26th meeting of the National Committee on Naming, Registration and Release of Crop Materials in Ibadan, Oyo State, in August.

The GM cotton varieties were developed by Mahyco Nigeria Private Limited, in collaboration with the Institute for Agricultural Research, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

Gidado stressed that Nigeria’s economic diversification efforts would depend largely on agriculture, urging cotton farmers to take advantage of this window of opportunity to increase their productivity.

She said the GM cotton varieties crops were resistant to cotton bollworm complex and had high cotton yield, while they were early-maturity tolerant to suckling insect pest, among others.

“You can see the differences in terms of yield when use the improved and conventional crop varieties,’’ he added.

The OXFAB country director stressed that nascent efforts to view agriculture as a business would necessitate the adoption of appropriate technologies such as the biotechnology, even though the use of biotechnology had generated some controversies.

“Biotechnology has been used safely in other parts of the world and in all the developed economies today. Countries like the U.S., Brazil, Japan, India and China have positive stories to tell about biotechnology.

“In Africa, South Africa and Sudan are benefitting from this technology. This technology has been in existence for the past 20 to 25 years without causing any health risks because there are regulatory frameworks in place.

“Here in Nigeria, we also have regulatory agencies like the National Biosafety Management Agency, which are saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that biotechnology is safely used and practised in the country,’’ she said.

Besides, Gidado urged farmers to desist from using adulterated seeds, saying they should rather go for improved seeds which could withstand all weather conditions and be pest-resistant as well as drought tolerant.

She added that the adoption of improved seeds and seedlings by farmers for their crop growing would engender bumper harvests and boost incomes.

By Philomina Attah

Stakeholders in the agriculture sector of the economy have called for total transformation of the nation’s food systems to prevent hunger and arrest incidence of poverty.

They made the call recently during the 2nd International Conference hosted by the Faculty of Agriculture, Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu Alike, Ebonyi State, with the theme, “Transforming National Food Systems to Prevent Hunger” as part of their Food Security and Hidden Hunger series.

While delivering the keynote speech, the Deputy Director-General, International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Oyo State, Dr. Kenton Daschiell, noted that it was possible to achieve zero hunger in Nigeria if the right systems were put in place. He also opined that zero hunger would be attained in Nigeria when farmers grow what they eat and eat what they grow.

He further revealed that series of meetings have been held by the Zero Hunger Forum championed by former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, in Benue, Borno and Ebonyi states, adding that these interactions have led to increased results in food production and extensive agricultural produce.

Dr. Daschiell also stated that Nigeria has done well in achieving some of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by providing nutritional food that reduces infant mortality among primary school pupils, bio-control products containing beneficial fungi that reduce afflation concentrations in groundnut and maize by 99% compared to untreated crops and increased growth opportunity for cassava products in the food sector. He further acknowledged that Nigeria has an enormous potential for industrialisation through cassava processing.

He, however, pointed out that some of the major bottlenecks that Nigerians were encountering in food production to include high production cost due to low yield, leading to lack of global competitiveness and lack of good road network and new technologies. And stated that, for agricultural sector to close the yield-gap in produce, they must involve new technologies and increase cassava competitiveness to fight hidden hunger in Nigeria.

While declaring the conference open, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Chinedum Nwajiuba, expressed satisfaction on the academic trajectory being charted by the Faculty of Agriculture of the university, adding that they have made the institution proud by being practical-oriented in the delivery of their academic brief and thereby enhancing food production.

He stressed that transforming national food system demands SMART policymaking and programme formulation which was the reason for the annual conference on Food Security and Hidden Hunger in the university.  He advised government to think out of the box to identify new ways the country should go so that it would not be stocked in the 17th century policy model.

The Vice-Chancellor assured that students of the university would be trained to be productive, employable and employers of labour in the agricultural sector, particularly now that there is a global effort to build a resilient and sustainable food systems for securing a healthy future for everyone.

Also speaking at the event, the Chairman, Local Organising Committee, Professor Dr. Johnny Ogunji, said that hunger may not only be evident in the quantity of food eaten, “as you may eat a lot but still derive nothing from it”. He stressed that the food sector has undergone rapid but unsustainable changes in the last few decades leading to changes in the food eaten, processed and marketed, which has led to high incidence of diseases such as diabetes, cancer, hypertension and different degrees of malnutrition among the people. He therefore advised the Nigerian government to ensure the country makes progress in agriculture to end all forms of malnutrition and make food systems more sustainable.

While welcoming the participants, the Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Dr. Christiana Igberi, said the university has taken the lead in the transformation of the agricultural sector by creating several hotspots for capacity building, innovative approach and incorporating the indigenous knowledge and local content for adaptability in order to realise the stated goals. She informed the participants that the faculty had embarked on the production of cucumber, maize, pepper, tomatoes and other vegetables through its farm, which has been scientifically tested as safe product though not yet in commercial quantity due to lack of land.

She maintained that every student was meant to engage in practical agricultural activities to complement the theories learnt in class in pursuance of their vision to proffer solution to the alarming food insecurity in the country.

The highlight of the conference, which was chaired by the Director of International Cooperation, Babcok University, Professor Cyril Nwagbuika, includes displaying of some agricultural produce such as packaged cassava flour, packaged “fufu”, cucumber and others from the university farm.