World Food Day: HOMEF Calls For Ban On Nigeria’s GMOs

As Nigeria joins the rest of the World to mark the 2023 World Food Day, the Executive Director Health of Mother Earth Foundation, Nnimmo Bassey, has called on the Federal Government to remove all Genetically Modified Foods from the country’s shelves. World Food Day is an essential international observance held every year to raise awareness about food security and hunger while promoting action to ensure everyone has access to safe, nutritious, and affordable food. Bassey in a statement on Sunday, said one big challenge the country is faced with protecting its food, including water, from the new wave of colonialism that is systematically taking hold of food systems across the globe. According to him, the transnational corporations leverage the current food crises to advance an atrocious agenda to gain control over the world’s food systems. “GMOs are being pushed into our food system without stringent government regulations. People do not know the implications of growing or eating GM foods because the population is not given information on the risks related to the technology. “In Nigeria, approvals for importing GMOs are granted without adequate public notice and proper and independent health and environmental impact assessments. It is improper for our farmers to be given seeds to grow without telling them what they are planting or what eventually will end up on the consumer’s plate.” HOMEF states that marking World Food Day should encourage people, organizations, and governments to unravel the root of hunger and malnutrition, address food injustice, and abuse of farmers’ rights. The day is a reminder of the avoidable fate of millions worldwide who suffer from hunger despite abundant natural and human resources. Bassey, noted that modern agricultural biotechnology directly undermines our pursuit of food sovereignty, posing a threat to our dignity and our fundamental right to refuse foods laden with uncertain health consequences and an agriculture system that stresses our ecosystems.  He further charged Nigerians to be intentional about what is on their plates. “We must not fail as individuals to ensure that what goes into our stomachs is safe. We must demand accountability from regulatory agencies to ensure that food products approved for import are wholesome, meet the dietary requirements of the people, and support the local economy.” HOMEF’s Director of Programme, Joyce Brown, echoed that agroecology can feed the world, cool the planet, and help local farmers adapt to climate change impacts. “Governments worldwide who want to address food insecurity and take meaningful climate action must invest in agroecology – the foundation for a positive transformation of food systems. Agroecology ensures optimum water and other resources use, revives soils and the ability to hold in carbon, uses renewable energy, and promotes shorter food supply chains while making healthy and nutritionally diverse food available to all”. Mariann Bassey-Orovwuje, the Deputy Director of Environmental Rights Action/ Friends of the Earth Nigeria, noted, “Food is a central and integral part of any society, and it creates a connection between our beliefs, ethnicity, and cultural heritage. Food is not just a part of culture; it defines culture.  What we eat and how we eat provides much information about specific cultures. Food, water, and soil are all interconnected and are not commodities. They are a sacred, life-affirming, and central composite of every existing society”. Orovwuje stressed that food and producers must be treated with respect and dignity. She called for policies that celebrate the smallholder farmers who produce over 70% of the food consumed globally. “We need deep-rooted changes in how agriculture is practiced and how the food system is organised and regulated. We need to wean our food system from corporate control and concentration and keep seeds in the hands of small-scale farmers.”

3m people die annually from food poisoning globally- Expert  

A food expert, and second Vice President of Nigeria Institute of Food Science and Technology (NIFST), Dr Ignatius Alaka, has labeled farmers using inorganic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics, synthetic hormones to grow their crops and raise livestocks as hired assassins. Alaka said the farmers were killing consumers slowly and painfully. According to him, these farmers kill consumers of their produce gradually and painfully. This is even as he called for increased consumption of organic products. Presenting a paper titled “Food Safety, Hygiene and Adherence to Quality Organic Standard,” during a ensitization workshop on organic agriculture for rice farmers and processors in Ebonyi State recently Dr. Alaka, said research has shown over the years that these in-organic substances used in farming had very serious deleterious harmful effects, even as he revealed that globally, over 1.5 billion cases of food borne disease outbreak are reported resulting in 3 million deaths. “Organic agriculture, which is governed by strict government standards, requires that products bearing the organic label are produced without the use of toxic and persistent pesticides and synthetic nitrogen fertilizers, antibiotics, synthetic hormones, genetic engineering etc. The use of organic fertilizers to grow nutritious foods is becoming internationally acceptable in-view of its numerous health benefits. “Consumers should be aware that you are what you eat. Anyone who has ever had food poisoning can tell you it is an experience you would never wish for your enemy. To avoid this, it is important to learn about food safety guidelines pertaining to the preparation of foods. “However, there is inadequate supervision and proper monitoring by food safety officers and the enforcement of food hygiene regulation is weak. There is also the lack of training in food safety and good hygiene practices for food handlers. “Rice is one of the most important grain crops in the world. Growth in population combined with rapid urbanization has helped to fuel the demand for rice. In order to meet up with the high demand for rice, farmers have to increase their production capacity by adapting conventional means of using in-organic fertilizers and pesticides. “The way people access food is important for their safety and health. All food manufacturers have a responsibility to provide consumers with safe, wholesome foods. Safety is not an option but it is an essential part of the planning, preparation and production of foods. “The safety and quality of foods is becoming a matter of increasing concern. Information is more readily available to consumers through the mass media and they are considerably more aware of existing and potential risks from pesticides, food poisoning and a poor diet,” he warned. He said a lack of consideration of safety can result in serious threat to public health and according to him, in most countries serious penalties exist for those who contravene hygiene and food safety legislations.  He also, urged farmers to take advantage of the high demand of organic produce across the world, saying consumer demand for organic food is growing at a rate of 20 to 30 per cent annually year and that it is estimated that more than 6 out of every 10 Australian households now buy organic foods, hence Nigeria farmers must key in now and take advantage of this opportunity to grow organic rice and other crops.