THERE was a debate during a public hearing at the Nigeria House of Representatives on some concerns raised about Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO). Opponents of this technology raised concerns about the health, environment and economy. Also, experts have tackled these concerns, describing them as misinformation.
In this article, there will be an attempt to address some of the concerns raised at the Federal House of Representatives.
Environment
Some lawmakers and the opponents of biotechnology raised concerns about GMOs causing environmental harm. But on the contrary, it has been established that planting GMO seeds reduces the use of chemicals on the farms. Excessive use of chemicals is one of the factors that cause environmental pollution. Farmers who are desperate to control weed and pests on their farms, apply chemicals on their farms.
For example, the newly introduced GM beans require just two chemical sprays before harvest, but the conventional beans variety requires about eight sprays before farmers can get good yield.
The former Executive Director of Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR, Zaria, Professor Mohammed Ishyaku, while noting that Pod Borer insect can destroy 80 percent of beans on farm, said, “The improvement in this regard is to enable the cowpea to resist attack of a very difficult insect called Maruca (Pod Borer).
Health
Over 25 years of global research, including studies by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, has found GMOs to be as safe as conventionally bred crops.
Also, the Director General of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), Dr Agnes Yemisi Asagbra, said, “While concerns exist about long-term effects, the current scientific consensus supported by the NBMA is that GMO foods approved for consumption in Nigeria are safe. This is because rigorous risk assessment guides our decision”.
Economy
Some claimed that GMOs will negatively affect the economy of Nigeria, but unlike their claims, GMOs have proven that they can improve the GDP of the country through increased crop yield, improved livelihood of farmers and job creation across the agricultural value chains.
“The economic benefit of this variety ranges from savings our country will make from the excessive use of chemical insecticides which are imported from abroad thereby saving for us foreign exchange.
“It is estimated that between N17 billion to N21 billion will be saved annually from the reduction of use of chemical insecticides in the production of beans in our fields by planting this new variety instead of the non-resistant one,” Professor Ishyaku said.
GMO to tackle food insecurity
Food insecurity remains one of the challenges of the country as the population continues to surge. There is an increasing quest to grow more food for the growing population. Those opposing biotechnology have failed to point out the efforts this technology is making to address food insecurity.
With biotechnology, drought tolerant crops have been developed especially for the northern region, pest tolerant crops have also been developed to address the challenges the smallholder farmers face while trying to produce food. Also, there are biofortified GMOs aimed to provide vitamin A and address malnutrition.
Why we must not reject GMOs
Rejecting GMOs in Nigeria will be highly counterproductive as the many gains recorded by our scientists will be a wasted effort. Also, there will be overdependence on food importation as a result of low production. With the introduction of GM crops, the race to end dependance on importation has started.
Also, without biotechnology, farmers struggle to produce food amid worsening climatic conditions. There will also be a high cost of food if GMO is rejected. The reason is that when there is low production as a result of lack of technology, there will be high competition for the little food available.
Nigeria teeming youth will also lose their jobs in the various agricultural value chains, the reason is that without good harvest, the activities on the value chains will reduce, resulting in loss of jobs.
