Nigerians have been told to be rest assured of the protection of their health and the environment by the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) on matters concerning genetically modified (GM) foods.

The Environment Minister of State, Ibrahim Usman Jibril, who made the submission in Abuja on Thursday, September 14, 2017 during the Third National Biosafety Conference, stated that the NBMA has capable biosafety regulatory personnel (scientists), “who are well trained within and outside the country to effectively carry out its regulatory functions.”

“The NBMA has well equipped laboratory to detect the smallest altered genes in GMOs. The Agency also carries out risk assessments on GMOs currently under trial in the country,” the minister added.

His words: “The NBMA is poised to effectively regulate modern biotechnology for the benefit of Nigerians. The Agency is here to safeguard the environment and human health of all Nigerians, taking into consideration national interest and socio-economic issues from potential adverse impacts of modern biotechnology and genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

“The Agency is charged with the responsibility for proving the regulatory, institutional and administrative framework and mechanisms for safety measures in the application of modern biotechnology in Nigeria. This is to ensure the safe practice of modern biotechnology and, use and handling of GMOs to avert adverse impacts on the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, considering risk to human health.

“With the creation of the NBMA Act, Nigeria has joined the league of countries in the in the world with biosafety laws and agencies. Countries in Africa with Biosafety laws and agencies include: South Africa, Egypt, Kenya, Mali, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Sudan, Ghana and Cameroon.”

According to him, the only way to achieve economic growth, food security and sufficiency and sustainable environment is innovation of safe smart scientific and technological means of maximising available land resources to increase food and fibre production.

He added: “We must also look for ways to increase investment, through enhanced international cooperation, in rural infrastructure, agricultural research and extension services, technology development, plant and livestock gene banks, in order to enhance agricultural productive capacity.

“This calls for a combination of tools, processes and safe technologies in a complementary way, to provide a form of economic diversification, which would bring with it a new set of skill requirements thereby expanding job opportunities. This is where modern biotechnology comes in and hence biosafety.”

The minister in a presentation assured of government’s determination to partner with all stakeholders in exploring use of relevant technologies that would, according to him, provide safe and adequate food for Nigerians. He stressed that, as a demonstration of government’s commitment, the NBMA was established to enable Nigerians benefit maximally from the practice of safe, modern biotechnology.

“The NBMA works in partnership with other line Ministries, Departments and Agencies, Non-Governmental Organisations, Youths, Women and Farmers Associations and the international community, in line with the United Nations Conventions to protect the environment.

“These partnerships are important if we are to succeed in ensuring food security. I therefore wish to charge all of you to support the government in her efforts to rejuvenate the economy and free our people from poverty,” the minister submitted.

Chairperson, NGO Coalition working with the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Chike Chikwendu, in a goodwill message, said: “Given that our environment is already stressed and Nigerians will not support any further steps to degrade it, the Nigerian NGO community, as critical stakeholders in the Nigerian environment space, is therefore desirous to fully understand Nigeria’s position on the use of GMOs and other policy issues on the use of modern biotechnology in the economic development of Nigeria.

“In this manner, we will be able to support and sensitise Nigerians accordingly. Currently, as a food insecure nation, we cannot afford to denounce any food production techniques that are not proven to have adverse environmental effects.”

Vice President, All Farmers Association, Chief Daniel Okafor, underlined the importance of science and technology, saying that, without it, mankind cannot survive.

“Biotechnology will lead us to another level. Nigeria needs food in abundance and, with agriculture and food science/technology, this can be achieved,” he said.

The Vice Chancellor, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State, Prof. Ignatius Akhakhia Onimawo, frowned at the situation whereby “people have confused bio-fortification with GMOs.”

“We need to do a lot of education and awareness raising. Science is about facts, not speculation,” he said.

Vice President, Nigeria Biosafety Association, Prof Abiodun Denloye, lamented that “many of what we’ve heard on biosafety on the media are negative reports.” According to him, “it will be unfair to talk about biosafety as if it’s a wholesome unwanted technology”.

“Every step should be taken on its own merit and we should do away with the attitude of throwing away the baby with the bath water,” he said.

Africa Coordinator, Programme for Biosafety Systems (PBS), Dr John Komen, described the conference, which had “Biosafety: Paving the way for safe and sustainable environmental management, agricultural development and economic recovery” as it theme, as a testimony of Nigeria’s achievement in the biosafety and biotechnology sector.

“We pledge our support for Nigeria now and many years ahead in the responsible development and use of biotechnology,” Komen stated, adding that PBS works with Nigeria and other countries interested in using biotechnology to enhance agricultural innovation.

Nigeria Country Director, PBS, Dr Matthew Dore, disclosed that PBS experts provided technical assistance for the country’s first ever confined field trials for “an important food security crop”.

“In parallel, PBS provided legal analysis, technical expertise and outreach capacity to support the development of a biosafety legal framework,” stated Dr Dore.

After steadily declining for over a decade, global hunger is on the rise again, affecting 815 million people in 2016, or 11 per cent of the global population, says a new edition of the annual United Nations report on world food security and nutrition released today. At the same time, multiple forms of malnutrition are threatening the health of millions worldwide.

The increase – 38 million more people than the previous year – is largely due to the proliferation of violent conflicts and climate-related shocks, according to The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2017.

Some 155 million children aged under five are stunted (too short for their age), the report says, while 52 million suffer from wasting, meaning their weight is too low for their height. An estimated 41 million children are now overweight. Anaemia among women and adult obesity are also cause for concern. These trends are a consequence not only of conflict and climate change but also of sweeping changes in dietary habits as well as economic slowdowns.

The report is the first UN global assessment on food security and nutrition to be released following the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which aims to end hunger and all forms of malnutrition by 2030 as a top international policy priority.

It singles out conflict – increasingly compounded by climate change – as one of the key drivers behind the resurgence of hunger and many forms of malnutrition.

“Over the past decade, conflicts have risen dramatically in number and become more complex and intractable in nature,” the heads of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) said in their joint foreword to the report. They stressed that some of the highest proportions of food-insecure and malnourished children in the world are now concentrated in conflict zones.

“This has set off alarm bells we cannot afford to ignore: we will not end hunger and all forms of malnutrition by 2030 unless we address all the factors that undermine food security and nutrition. Securing peaceful and inclusive societies is a necessary condition to that end,” they said.

Famine struck in parts of South Sudan for several months in early 2017, and there is a high risk that it could reoccur there as well as appear in other conflict-affected places, namely northeast Nigeria, Somalia and Yemen, they noted.

But even in regions that are more peaceful droughts or floods linked in part to the El Niño weather phenomenon, as well as the global economic slowdown, have also seen food security and nutrition deteriorate, they added.

Key numbers

Hunger and food security

• Overall number of hungry people in the world: 815 million, including:

1. In Asia: 520 million
2. In Africa: 243 million
3. In Latin America and the Caribbean: 42 million

• Share of the global population who are hungry: 11%

1. Asia: 11.7%
2. Africa: 20% (in eastern Africa, 33.9%)
3. Latin America and the Caribbean: 6.6%

Malnutrition in all its forms

• Number of children under 5 years of age who suffer from stunted growth (height too low for their age): 155 million
• Number of those living in countries affected by varying levels of conflict: 122 million
• Children under 5 affected by wasting (weight too low given their height): 52 million
• Number of adults who are obese: 641 million (13% of all adults on the planet)
• Children under 5 who are overweight: 41 million
• Number of women of reproductive age affected by anaemia: 613 million (around 33% of the total)

The impact of conflict

• Number of the 815 million hungry people on the planet who live in countries affected by conflict: 489 million
• The prevalence of hunger in countries affected by conflict is 1.4 – 4.4 percentage points higher than in other countries
• In conflict settings compounded by conditions of institutional and environmental fragility, the prevalence is 11 and 18 percentage points higher
• People living in countries affected by protracted crises are nearly 2.5 times more likely to be undernourished than people elsewhere

A third of the world’s land is degraded. By the end of the 13th Conference of the Parties (COP13) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) that ended on Saturday, September 16, 2017 in Ordos, China, 113 countries agreed to specify concrete targets, with clear indicators, to reverse degradation and rehabilitate more land.

Countries also agreed at COP13 on a new global roadmap to address land degradation.

The new UNCCD 2018-2030 Strategic Framework is said to be the most comprehensive global commitment to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) in order to restore the productivity of vast swathes of degraded land, improve the livelihoods of more than 1.3 billion people, and to reduce the impacts of drought on vulnerable populations.

“Some battles took place, but you took bold measures for our Convention. We have a new strategic framework and a new reporting cycle. We have a Drought Initiative. We have taken fundamental decisions on gender, capacity-building, migration and sand and dust storms,” said Ms Monique Barbut, UNCCD Executive Secretary.

The Conference also witnessed the birth of the first global private sector fund dedicated to implementing the Sustainable Development Goals. Known as the Land Degradation Neutrality Fund (LDN Fund), it will be a source of transformative capital bringing together public and private investors to fund projects to restore degraded lands, which come with environment, economic and social benefits.

With an initial target size of $300 million fund capital, the LDN Fund is co-promoted by Mirova, an affiliate of Natixis Global Asset Management that is dedicated to socially responsible investment, and the Global Mechanism of the UNCCD. A separately-operated Technical Assistance Facility (TAF) will advise the Fund on the development of promising sustainable land use activities in order to build a strong portfolio of projects.

The Global Land Outlook, a new landmark publication unveiled at the Conference, spotlighted the urgency for swift action. It reported that 20 percent of the world’s land has become degraded in just the last two decades.

“This is the most comprehensive study of its type, mapping the interlinked impacts of land on a range of thematic areas including urbanisation, climate change, erosion and forest loss,” Ms. Barbut said of the publication at its launch.

To reaffirm the progress made at the summit, more than 80 Ministers from around the world issued the Ordos Declaration urging countries to step up efforts on all fronts to tackle desertification – one of the planet’s most pressing global challenges.

“The Ordos Declaration reaffirms the contribution of ecological services to food security, private sector, civil society and youth…. It also recognises the importance of addressing climate change, protecting biodiversity and addressing food security,” said Zhang Jianlong, Minister of State Forestry Administration, China, when he closed the Conference.

He said the Convention will pay attention to regional hotspots and intensify cooperation, and underlined the Belt and Road Cooperation Mechanism that will support capacity building along the Silk Road in the region.

The Conference also took action to address three new and emerging issues linked to increasing land degradation – drought, sand and dust storms and migration.

Sand and dust storms threaten the health of millions of people across the globe, and is a major concern in China where the Conference took place.

“Equally, drought mitigation,” Ms Barbut asserted, “would for the first time be an area of focus under the New Strategy.”

“National drought policies with effective early warning systems would be crucial in promoting vulnerability assessment and risk mitigation measures, particularly in light of the devastating droughts witnessed in Africa this year that have left more than 20 million people on the verge of starvation,”  she added.

The Conference took place from September 6 to 16 in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, China.

In the modern world – where technology enables us to achieve more at a faster pace and social media boasting makes it easy to feel inadequate at the achievements of others – 30 could be considered the new 40.

We no longer need to stare horrified at the first grey hair wrapped around a comb or grimly pinch a thickening waistline to receive the impetus to stop and ask ourselves what we have done, and what we are going to do now to add meaning to our lives and value to the world.

As for people, so it goes for companies, organisations and initiatives: 30 years under the belt provides the opportunity to reflect and redirect.

Many such bodies will be casting an envious eye at the Montreal Protocol as it reaches this milestone, both in terms of its amazing achievement to date – setting the ozone layer on the road to recovery – and its new vision to help avoid up to 0.5° Celsius in global warming by the end of the century.

“The ozone story continues to inspire,” said Tina Birmpili, head of UN Environment’s Ozone Secretariat, under which the protocol falls. “It shows what can be achieved if we listen to the science, put aside our differences and act on behalf of our planet. This must not just be a one-off.”

On September 16, 1987, nations agreed on the protocol – The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, to give its full name. The goal was to slash the production and use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and other ozone-depleting substances, used in aerosols, refrigeration systems and many other items.

While such inventions brought comfort and convenience to billions, the substances they ran on were rather inconveniently ripping a hole in the ozone layer, allowing harmful ultraviolet radiation to stream through and threaten human lives, the environment and economies.

Fast forward to today, and the nations of the world – all of whom signed up to the protocol – have phased out nearly 99 per cent of ozone-depleting substances. In September 2014, a report from the Scientific Assessment Panel of the Montreal Protocol confirmed that the ozone layer is healing and will return to 1980 levels by mid-century. As a result, up to 2 million cases of skin cancer may be prevented each year by 2030.

Climate change in the crosshairs

With this success in the trophy cabinet, the Montreal Protocol is now helping to address the climate change challenge.

Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) became widely used substitutes for ozone-depleting substances, but these are climate-warming gases with significant global-warming potential.

In October 2016, after long and sometimes-fraught negotiations, parties to the Montreal Protocol put aside their differences and signed the Kigali Amendment to phase down these greenhouse gases.

Then-UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called the amendment “a major boost to limiting global temperature rise”.

The Paris Agreement calls for the world to limit global warming this century to under 2°C compared to pre-industrial levels, with a more-ambitious 1.5°C set as an aspirational target.

Everybody onboard

Countries that ratify the Kigali Amendment – and there have been six so far – are committing to cutting the production and consumption of HFCs by more than 80 per cent over the next 30 years.

The new deal includes targets and timetables to replace HFCs with more planet-friendly alternatives, and an agreement by rich countries to help finance the transition of developing countries to safer products.

Top officials from the chemical industry, including producers of chemicals and manufacturers of equipment that use HFCs, were also in Kigali, demonstrating support from the private sector.

Developed countries will start reducing HFCs as early as 2019. Developing countries will start later, provided 20 nations have ratified the amendment to allow it to enter into force. However, some African nations have expressed the desire to phase down the chemicals faster than required. They have good reason to do so.

According to UN Environment’s 2015 Africa Adaptation Gap Report, even limiting global warming to under 2°C will cut agricultural yields by 40 per cent, putting 50 per cent of the continent’s population at the risk of undernourishment.

There is still a long way to go, but the success on the ozone layer proves that when the world acts as one, as they are doing again with the Kigali Amendment, results will come.

To keep the energy up, and inspire the next generation of supporters for the coming challenge, the Ozone Secretariat, in partnership with Marvel Comics, is launching an Ozone Heroes campaign – reminding people that our human qualities are what equip us to solve the world’s most pressing problems and that we are all #OzoneHeroes.

“The Montreal Protocol is as necessary today as it was in the 1980s, not just for the ozone layer but also as part of global efforts to halt climate change,” said Erik Solheim, head of UN Environment. “Our continued success depends on the emergence of a new generation of heroes.”

Two more potential tropical storms were brewing in the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday, September 14, 2017, even as Hurricane Jose approaches the US.

According to the National Hurricane Centre, Hurricanes Lee and Marie could materialise as, according to the body, a wave off the African coast has a 70 percent likelihood becoming one in the next five days, as does a wave to the west of it.

But, weakened to a tropical storm on Thursday morning, Hurricane Jose, coming on the heals of Irma, reportedly made very little movement during the past two days, as it continues spinning around in the open waters of the Atlantic. That leaves forecasters in a frustrating waiting game as they analyse the atmospheric conditions that will determine the long-term track of the storm – which is expected to regain strength this weekend.

During the next four days, forecasters are confident that Jose will remain far from any land as it slowly makes it way west and north on a path that will take it about halfway between Bermuda and the eastern Carolina coast by Monday night.

As of 11 a.m. Thursday, Jose weakened slightly from a minimal Category 1 hurricane, with peak winds of 75 mph, to a tropical storm, with peak winds of 70 mph. Category 1 hurricanes pack maximum sustained winds of 74 to 95 mph, while tropical storms pack maximum winds of 39 to 73 mph.

The centre of Tropical Storm Jose was about 435 miles east-northeast of the southeastern Bahamas and 520 miles south-southwest of Bermuda, the National Hurircane Centre reported. The storm was moving north-northwest at a pace of 7 mph, still slow but slightly faster than its early morning pace of 3 mph.

“Some restrengthening is forecast to begin on Friday, and Jose will likely become a hurricane again by the weekend,” the National Hurricane Centre said in its 11 a.m. advisory. As of now, tropical-storm-force winds extend up to 115 miles from Jose’s centre.