First Food Crop GMO in Nigeria: Commercial
Release of Pod Borer Resistant Cowpea III
As a conclusion to the release of the fist food
crop GMO in Nigeria, it is pertinent to enlighten the general public on the
genetically modified product as one of the important feats achieved through
scientific process. As mentioned in the first part of this article that GMO
connotes dreadful fear to some people because of unscientific and
unsubstantiated allegations that GMO is harmful to people. The contribution of Dr. Rose
M. Gidado in the second part of this article adequately addressed safety of PBR
cowpea for human consumption. Still, the question is ‘does Nigeria need the
Genetic Modification (GM) Technology?’ This question is germane considering the results of the Fifth Multiple
Indicators Cluster Survey (MICS5) that was discussed in the second part of this
article. Dr. Onyeka Nwosu, an Abuja based
Scientist amply tackled the subject of GM technology and the Nigerian quest to
achieve food security and diversify the economy through agriculture. Happy
reading.
Does
Nigeria Need The Genetic Modification (GM) Technology?
Agriculture
today accounts for about 25% of GDP in Nigeria and is the sector that offers
the greatest potential for poverty reduction and job creation, particularly
among vulnerable rural populations and urban dwellers with limited job
opportunities. The growing population in Nigeria is expected to cause an
exponential rise in the demand for food, a warming climate, water scarcity, and
arable land shrinkage that will make the challenge more difficult. In recent
years, Nigerian and non-Nigerian scientists and experts from different fields are
increasingly focusing on the challenging and threatening projection that in the
next 30 years, Nigeria will need to produce as much food as has been consumed
over our entire human history. Growth generated by agriculture in Nigeria is
believed to be effective in reducing poverty and mortality than GDP growth in
other sectors because it is certain that increased GDP growth will bring food
security and job opportunities to the country through a coordinated effort
between the public and private sectors. However, the agricultural sector has
suffered sustained neglect and as a result, Nigeria has gone from being an
exporter of agricultural and food products to importers today.
Considering
the increased level of poverty, malnutrition, hunger, unemployment and low
level of agricultural productivity in Nigeria, Genetic modification (GM)
technology has great potential to offer solutions.
Genetic
modification technology, which is also known as genetic engineering, a method
of modern biotechnology is the term given to the technology through which a
gene from one organism is transferred to another. The inserted gene may be from
the same species (transfer of a desirable gene from an organism of specie into
another organism of same specie). This is called Cisgenics. The inserted gene
can as well be from another species (transfer of a desirable gene from an
organism of specie into another organism of different specie). This is called
Transgenics. In some cases, an inserted gene may govern one particular trait,
such as an organism’s resistance to disease or pest, while in other cases; many
inserted genes may determine characteristics. It was the understanding of DNA
that paved the way for the technology. The knowledge gained has allowed
researchers to transfer genes between the cells of different organisms. In
other words, agricultural modern biotechnology enables improvements that are
not possible with traditional crossing of related plant species alone.
The
modification in plant genes, through this genetic engineering, is of enormous
advantage to all the stakeholders i.e. benefits the farmer, the consumer and
the government. The genes are modified to introduce newer or improved desirable
traits or even eliminate undesirable ones. Some of these traits include
improved resistance to pest and diseases which eventually benefits the farmers
through yield increase, improved adaptation to extreme environmental stress
like drought and flooding conditions which promotes better crop protection and
improved nutritive value which benefits the consumer through high nutritional
enrichment. This success from farm to the consumer undoubtedly positively
changes the economy of Nigeria through increased exportation, industrialization
and food security.
The
power of this modern breeding biotechnology is further augmented because
biotechnologists can add a gene conveying useful characteristics from virtually
any other organism, thus stressing the very real value of wild biodiversity and
solidifying the arguments for its conservation. By contrast, conventional
breeding can only use genes already existing in the crop variety of interest or
in closely related, sexually compatible varieties. In other words, the truth
about modern biotechnology in agriculture and its products is the opposite of
what the public think. They are produced with methods that are more precise,
predictable and controllable than historical methods long accepted as safe.
According
to ISAAA 2016, planting of genetically modified crops has increased 100-fold
from 1.7 million hectares in 1996 to 185.1 million hectares in 2016, planted by
up to 17 to 18 million farmers making it the fastest adopted crop technology in
recent times. This global adoption rate speaks for itself in terms of its
sustainability, resilience and substantial benefits it delivers to both small
and large-scale farmers as well as consumers. The most commercially available
genetically modified crops in the world are Maize, Cotton, Soybean and Canola
which are either engineered to be herbicide tolerant, insect resistant or both.
Nigeria’s textile industry suffered a serious setback that affected the economy
of Nigeria due to the severe attack of bollworm that reduces the yield of
cotton production on the field. Today through genetic modification technology,
genetically modified (GM) cotton that has an improved characteristic of
resisting the attack of bollworm have been successfully developed and planted.
This insect and pest attack is also likened to the low production of other cash
crops that are used as both human and animal feed such as Maize and
Soybean. Commercialization of these
crops in Nigeria will economically improve the GDP via improved textile using
the GM cotton and the agricultural industry using GM maize, soybean etc. for
food, feed and processing.
The Nigerian
government has already taken care of the ill-fated public concerns of this
technology like environmental concerns, human health concerns, socio-economic
concerns, cultural issues, religious issues among others through the provision
of a strong biosafety regulatory system. According to reports of Council on
Science and Public health, there is no evidence to support the idea that the
consumption of approved GM food has detrimental effect on human health. This is
actually because of Biosafety regulation that comprehensively assesses the
process and the products of the technology. This makes genetically modified
products the most extensively regulated products all over the world. Biosafety
regulation is intended to diminish or eradicate the possible harmful effects of
modern biotechnology on the environment, biodiversity and human health using,
policies, laws and guidelines. It also helps to determine in advance when
hazards to human health and natural systems will result if any particular
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) is released into the environment,
anticipate when a given GMO or any of its product(s) will be harmful if it
becomes part of human food, and detect whether a GMO will actually yield the
benefits it was designed to provide.
Nigeria
developed her biosafety system, which is consolidated legally through the
assenting of the National Biosafety Management Agency Act, 2015 bill into law.
This Act led to the establishment of the only competent Authority in Nigeria,
National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) that has the responsibility for
providing regulatory framework for safety measures in the application of modern
biotechnology and its products like GMOs with the view to preventing any
adverse effects on human health, animals and the environment and as well as
sustaining the biodiversity.
Indeed,
considering the enormous economic importance of agricultural genetic
modification technology in Nigeria and also bearing in mind the existence of a
legally and technically equipped institution (National Biosafety Management
Agency) that ensures the safety of the technology, Nigeria without doubt needs
the full adoption of genetic modification technology.
This
concludes my three series article on the release of the first food crop GMO
developed in Nigeria for Nigerians and beyond.
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