STAKEHOLDERS on the implementation of multilateral system of access and benefit sharing of the international plant treaty have unanimously adopted the policy document, just as Nigeria joins over 150 countries in the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources in order to have access to the diversity of crops.
The policy document adoption took place during a one-day validation workshop on the multilateral system access and benefit sharing of the international plant treaty organised by National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB), in collaboration with Bioversity International approved and adopted a policy document which would enable Nigeria to have access to all kinds of seeds across the 150 countries.
Research Director at NACGRAB, Dr Sunday Aladele, while speaking with journalists shortly after the workshop held in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital said respective member countries will equally have access to seeds growing in Nigeria.
He stated further that: ”It is a multilateral system and its very important because globally, food security is critical, America and all European countries are members of the treaty. None of these countries plays with genetic resources which are critical to ensuring seed security of any country because we can not develop any crop without genetic resources. So, internationally, they want to ensure that there is no restriction on it,” he said.
According to the NACGRAB research director, Nigeria signed the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) or the Plant Treaty) on June 10, 2002.
“And submitted the instrument of ratification to Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nation (FAO) on September 6, 2022, and officially became a contracting party on Dec. 5, 2022.
“As a contracting party to the international treaty, Nigeria is bound by all the obligations of the ITPGRFA, including the need to implement the multilateral system,” he said.
The meeting resolved to submit the policy document to the Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology.
The meeting had in attendance representatives of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMA&FS), Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology (FMIST) and National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA).
Other attendees were Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN), National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).
Representative of Farmers, Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIARs), National Agricultural Research Institutes (NARIs), First Technical University and National Centre NACGRAB were also present.
In a communique issued at the end of the workshop, stakeholders posited that there is the need to create awareness to get citizens of Nigeria to defend and protect her plant genetic resources, and also be informed about the Multilateral System of access and benefit sharing under the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resource for Food and Agriculture.
