GMO farmers can’t consume their smart seeds yields and they feel evil looming
While production of various vital crops like maize, rice, beans and yam was going on, farmers at a point earlier in the year had preferred to sell to wealthy wholesaler rings who reportedly exported the purchase, leaving traders and markets short.
A soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis makes this possible. In local farming, to shore up seeds’ resilience towards a bountiful harvest in air quotes, it produces what is known as Bt protein, which deters invasive insects from burrowing through a particular crop. Among Nigerian farmers around the middle of the year, the Tela Maize – what was supposed to be a super seedling – hasn’t achieved that same effect. Instead, such genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are getting pushback from civil setups calling for an immediate ban on distribution.
The Minister of Agriculture of Food Security Mr Abubakar Kyari was listening yesterday at a public hearing hosted by the House of Representatives Committee on Agricultural Production in Abuja. Critics opposing lab-made food point to what experts have said about the environment and health consequences of patronising human-built seeds.
![One of the issues the minister highlighted as the problem with costly food prices is the shrinkage of land mass for [agriculture], flooding, habitation problems, and insecurity.](https://i0.wp.com/meiza.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/One-of-the-issues-the-minister-highlighted-as-the-problem-with-costly-food-prices-is-the-shrinkage-of-land-mass-for-agriculture-flooding-habitation-problems-and-insecurity_edited-e1722859033915.jpg?resize=708%2C355)
He says seed councils and regulatory bodies are in charge of checkmating seedlings used by farmers, hence the need for a collaborative effort. When sceptics went all out against the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded Tela Maize in June, some welcomed it. They were farmers, subsistence or intensive growers, who wanted a feel of that quick-sail-for-the-seed experience that this specimen could bring.
The way the critics see it despite the optimism earlier shown, the promise of bountiful harvests hasn’t materialised for plants like cotton which is sad for President Bola Tinubu’s interest in energising textile productions. Moreso, according to the 200-members-strong GMO-Free Nigeria Alliance, a civil group represented at the public hearing, there is a need for honourable minister Kyari and his team to reverse course.
It was the consultant Inibehe Effiong who made the pitch to the committee on behalf of the group in a ‘No to GMO and GMO distribution and circulation in Nigeria’ paper. We would like to see in the interim, while the argument is even going on, a national moratorium declared that even if they are not convinced that the adverse effects which majority of the experts have spoken eloquently to are obvious, even if they still want to go ahead with the investigation, pending when they conclude; GMO distribution and circulation in Nigeria should be halted.
It is that perception that you can do to Nigerians whatever you want to do and nothing will happen that the speaker wanted to address because of the negatives that come with the notion.
Reiterating, Effiong says the way it seems scientists see the citizens explains some of the institutional arrogance that we witness today. To the point that someone was so audacious as to say it is better to eat and die than not to eat and die.
November was supposed to be the month when Nigerians started to enjoy major food production because of a rich harvest that was anticipated back in August. Since 2024 commenced, there have been problems with expensive grains due to low supply in local markets.
While production of various vital crops like maize, rice, beans and yam was going on, farmers at a point had preferred to sell to wealthy wholesaler rings who reportedly exported the purchase, leaving traders and markets short.
This scarcity led to massive food inflation positioning itself at 40.87 percent on a year-on-year basis in June. This figure was 15.62 percent points higher compared to the rate recorded in June 2023 (25.25 percent).
Despite all the efforts the minister three months ago projected had gone into intensive agriculture, family meal times aren’t feeling the deficit being overturned just yet.
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The conference heard what an attendee but also a stakeholder, John Ekpere, noted about the National Cotton Association of Nigeria recording losses in September because they had relied on GMO smart seeds. Farmers, says this speaker, did not record any significant increase in their yields compared to the local seed varieties.
What has happened instead is that since the introduction of GM cotton seeds during the 2020/2021 farming season, yield per hectare remained almost the same.
Farmers, according to what the cotton association made known about their September ordeals, reported that no other plant has been able to germinate on the farmlands where the GM seeds were planted, even after four years.
Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.
