With Nigeria’s population expected to hit 300 million by 2030, achieving food security has become a major challenge. Insecurity, access to land, and climate change are, however, negatively impacting agricultural production. Thus, the growing realisation of the need to deploy agricultural biotechnologies to boost food production, DANIEL ESSIET reports.
Farming has become a challenge to smallholder farmers in many parts of the country. This is due to unpredictable weather and inaccessible climate-smart farm input.
In recent months, climate change-induced disasters have surged with unexpected and excessive rainfall and floods causing massive damage to the ready-to-harvest crop and threatening the food security and livelihood of smallholder farmers.
To boost productivity and income and sustain the livelihoods, farmers not only have to adopt good farming practices but also must have access to new high-yielding, drought- and disease-resistant varieties. The reality is that some farmers don’t have access to varieties that are drought resistance.
Others don’t have access to varieties known for early maturity, high yielding, and large cobs potential.
For instance, the demand for maize is increasing; with the main driver coming from the growing need for poultry feed. The Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) recently warned that the sector was facing imminent collapse, following the scarcity and soaring prices of maize, a vital feed for birds, The operators said this crisis posed a serious threat to the advancement of the poultry sector and puts over 25 million jobs within the value chain at risk.
The Chairman, Lagos State chapter of PAN, Iyiola Mojeed, decried the high cost of maize, soy and wheat, the major components of feed production, even as he called on the government to stop the importation of frozen foods. The association’s chairman lamented that owing to the hard times his members had been subjected to, many have been forced out of business.
According to him, “the availability and prices of maize, soy and wheat, the major components of feed in our industry, have gone to the extreme, meaning that production of eggs and other poultry products is at risk in the country, which normally shouldn’t be.”
In Asia where, the government has made tremendous progress in the production of maize and other staples that happened because of the hybrid maize seed industry, supported by investment incentives within the sector, presence of competitive products, and support R&D by local seed companies. Also, studies buttressed the presence of ideal technologies and technical expertise across the seed value chain.
Indeed, study published by PG Economics in the UK, it noted that in 2020, African farmers earned an estimated $282 million from growing genetically modified (GM) crops.
In addition, those farmers across the globe earned an estimated $18.8 billion in additional benefits from growing GM crops. Despite this, study posited that gm crops are grown commercially in less than 10 per cent of Africa’s 54 countries.
For experts, application of biotechnology would boost national food production. Therefore, strengthening and scaling seed production of various crop varieties in Nigeria through biotechnology would be a game-changer for the long-term sustainability of the agricultural industry, they said.
This was one of the key points of a Agricultural Technology and Biosafety Sensitisation Workshop for the Media organised by the National Biotechnology Development Agency, the African Technology Foundation and Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology in Africa.
The organisations have been working with the National Seeds Council, research institutes and partners to produce good seed varieties and making suitable germplasms and market-ready hybrid and GM products available for testing, validation and registration in the country.
For Head of the Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology and Biotech Awareness Unit, Mrs Iweajunwa Ogochukwu, Nigeria has a more urgent need to adopt GM organisms for agricultural improvement, with challenges such as climate change and population growth.
She believes the agriculture industry is entering a new chapter with the biotechnology component supporting the sector, stressing the importance of GM products in the government’s quest to achieve food self-sufficiency. This is because the period will usher in a wave of high-yielding crop varieties.
Her words: “The aim of this workshop is to enlighten and keep the participants abreast with the developments in Ag. Biotech and how such changes can improve lives and general well-being of Nigerians.’’
She also said agricultural biotechnology offers farmers the potential to produce more food and create a competitive sector capable of generating more jobs.
In addition that access to innovative biotechnology such as GM would help them to deliver increased yields.
According to her, the strategic objectives for biotechnology were to guarantee food security and self-sufficiency through improvements to agricultural productivity.
The use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) has been a contentious issue across the food sector.
Indeed, public perceptions and political debates on the risks and benefits of agricultural biotechnology have grown as people continue to be wary of GM crops, due to concerns about the cost of seeds, issues surrounding herbicide resistance and worries about allergens and safety.
Such fears were unfounded, according to Mrs Ogochukwu, who added that no adverse reactions had been found in any approved GM products in the market.
For her and the rest of the speaker, advances in plant biotechnology have allowed the development of GM varieties that have significantly impacted agricultural management and improved the grain yield.
Director, Department of Agricultural biotechnology, National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), Dr. Rose Gidado, described biotechnology as a tool to feed the future. This is because so many products have emerged from the process to boost agricultural productivity, sustainability, growth, and nutritional security.
According to her, NABDA is working with other agencies to support the deployment and commercialisation of various varieties of GM for nutritional improvement.
Gidado said biotechnology has been recognised as one of the most significant frameworks for development in the nation, adding that its application in agriculture, enhances the production of nutritious food crops and increases farmers’revenue. She noted that biotechnology application had become very necessary in almost all sectors, especially in health where various vaccines are saving lives.
She said the government is advancing agricultural technology to achieve food security. She said Nigeria approved its first biotechnology crop Bacillus thuringiensis (BT) cotton for commercialisation in 2018.
She added: “Next Nigeria approved the commercial release of Pod Borer Resistant Cow pea (PBR cowpea; AAT709A) in January 2019. In December 2020, Nigeria became the first African country to issue gene editing guidelines.”
According to her, Nigeria will continue to deliver notable achievements in biotechnology research and development – spurred by strong support of the government.
Major biotechnology achievements, she noted, included TELA maize, developed for fall army Worm and Stem Borer resistance by the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Zaria, which was approved by the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA).
Other modern biotechnology crops, which have been commercialised, she continued, include insect-resistant beans and cotton, Herbicide Tolerant (HT) soybeans, Virus Resistant Cassava with Elevated Iron and Zinc developed by the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI).
GM TELA Maize varieties have been released to farmers by the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Ahmadu Bello University.
TELA maize varieties, to Dr. Gidado, are genetically modified to tolerate mild drought and to protect against certain insect pests, especially stem borer and fall armyworm (FAW).
The variety produces nine tonnes per hectare as against three tons by the best producing maize variety in Nigeria. She noted that many campaigns had been undertaken to enhance the understanding of policymakers, regulators, and technical experts about biotechnology applications in crops, livestock, fisheries and aquatic resources, as well as the role of biotechnology in spurring agricultural innovation.
She said: “No trace of ill-health or safety concerns have been traced to the already two commercialised biotech crops, Bt Cotton and PBR Cowpea, in the market. For sure, Nigeria is on her way to achieving zero hunger.”
She expressed concern that anti-GMO activism has stalled the adoption of genetically engineered crops.
On the propagation of scientific facts on biotechnology and addressing the misconceptions, the Director said the Open Forum for Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB) is doing a lot in Nigeria. She said the Forum had been facilitating constructive conversations among key stakeholders and decision-makers on agricultural biotechnology.
She explained that OFAB, a project of Africa Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and is being implemented in 10 African countries—Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Malawi and Rwanda.
With the state of emergency declared in the food and agric sector, she maintained that the integration of technology tools into agriculture has become a necessity.
She observed: “It is expedient to note that agricultural biotechnology alone is not going to be an all-sufficient approach but for sure, it will definitely revolutionise national food production.”
Director-General/Chief Executive of the NABDA, Prof. Abdullahi Mustapha, noted that the country is experiencing rapid population growth, necessitating a need to double food production by 2050.
To overcome these obstacles and increase food production for the public, he called for the deployment of cutting-edge technological tools such as modern biotechnology.
For most successful adoption, he urged senior editors to provide a balanced view, incorporating diverse perspectives on biotechnology-related issues to facilitate public discourse that would help shape policies that prioritise safety, equity, and sustainability in agric biotechnology.
He urged reporters to highlight success stories and instances of agricultural biotechnology applications, highlighting real-world examples of how biotechnology has benefited agriculture that can enhance the public and illustrate the palpable advantages of this breakthrough.
Director-General/Chief Executive, National Biosafety Management Agency, Dr. Agnes Yemisi Asagbra said Nigeria has the appropriate legal regime to regulate the application of the GMO technology in agricultural production.
She noted that to safeguard human health, the rapid progress of modern biotechnology has given rise to new regulatory needs while taking advantage of the opportunities offered by it.
She observed: “The application of modern biotechnology under a legal framework can, therefore, be a valuable tool for addressing the several global and national concerns/challenges in the areas of human health, agriculture, environment and industry.”
