A coalition of over 100 civil society actors, farmers, scientists, legal practitioners, and academics have asked Nigeria to discontinue plans to introduce genetically modified potatoes and other genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or crops.
According to them, introducing these crops portends disaster to the country’s food system and violates Nigerians’ fundamental human rights.
They made the demand in a statement following the federal government’s planned release of a report on clinical trials on genetically modified (GM) potatoes. Similar reports indicate that GM Potatoes will be commercially released in 2025.
Nnimmo Bassey, Executive Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), argued that any further release of GMOs in Nigeria “would be confirmed as a deliberate effort to destroy the Nigerian food system, jeopardise consumers’ health and degrade our environment.
“The House of Representatives in May 2024 announced a halt on introducing new GMOs and mandated an investigation on GMOs and the approval processes. To date, four months later, there is no information on the findings or results of this investigation. Yet, the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) is warming up to release new GM potatoes.
“It is clear that there are indeed vested interests on the side of the transnational corporations producing the GMOs and their allies in government undermining the health and safety of the Nigerian populace.”
Bassey described GM potatoes as “a narrow and short-sighted technological fix inappropriate for smallholder farmers in Nigeria and could lead to an irreversible contamination of indigenous potato varieties.
“GM potatoes are banned in Peru and elsewhere and have been continuously disregarded in developed countries. It is a wonder that Nigerian farmers are already being painted as clamouring for the potatoes. This was the same strategy used in Uganda and Rwanda.”
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Buttressing Bassey, Dr Ifeanyi Casmir, a Molecular Biologist added that “just like Bt Cotton, Bt Beans, and TELA Maize, the GM Potatoes represent a gradual yet sure erosion of the original germplasm of Nigerian crops.
“We are being misled by half-baked parochial ‘scientists’ toward adopting a technology, whose products are mostly used as biofuels and feed for animals in other countries – not for human consumption.
“What our government needs to do is to address the instability in Plateau State and other potato-producing states where banditry has caused farmers to abandon their farms – leading to poor productivity and rising cost of potatoes across the country.
“Potatoes growers in Plateau State and other places who will accept this genetically modified variety are being set up for devastation.”
Food Sovereignty Activist and Deputy Director of Environmental Rights Action, Mariann Bassey-Orovwuje strongly emphasized the regulatory lapses about GMOs.
Bassey-Orovwuje said: “Up till now, there is no information on the application for the field/clinical trials on the GM Potatoes on the website of the NBMA whose mandate it is to regulate the use of GMOs and ensure adequate public participation in the decision-making process. The secrecy and urgency with which GMO applications and approvals are handled is a cause for serious concern.
“These GM potatoes are banned at the potato centre of origin in the Andes, with indigenous farmers warning that GM potatoes are a terrible idea. Additionally, Late blight is not a uniquely African problem; which raises the question as to why it is being forced on Africa; and on Nigeria.
“The simple answer is commercial interests.”
According to Joyce Brown, Public Health Scientist and Director of Programmes at HOMEF, “There is no information as to whether there have been long-term feeding studies conducted on these GM Potatoes varieties.
“It is not sufficient to carry out field trials or short-lived clinical trials. This GM potato is the same which is being pushed on East Africa; a “cisgenic” variant of the Victoria variety that was originally from South America but selected for use in Africa.
“The GM Victoria was developed by the International Potato Centre (CIP) and is genetically engineered with three genes taken from Latin American relatives of the potato plant.
“Cisgenesis modification is still a new and unproven technique, and it is not yet clear how the stack of three genes will interact with each other or with the genetic material of the host plant.”
Lovelyn Ejim, a farmer and founder of Network of Women in Agriculture, reasoned that Nigeria does not need genetic modification to address the late blight disease.
Ejim said: “The disease is not new and simple organic methods have, over time, proven to be effective including choosing naturally resistant varieties, crop rotation, mixed cropping, providing proper crop nutrition, crop spacing, quick removal of blighted plants etc.
“Nigerian farmers have not asked the government for GMOs. Late blight is a robust and fast-adapting pathogen and therefore will undoubtedly develop resistance to this technology.
“We are very concerned about the lack of participatory stakeholder engagement with farmers and consumers and the limited information available on the long-term consequences of GMOs, as well as the proprietary issues concerning the GM seeds.”
In the past few months, many Nigerians have rejected GMOs, especially with the release of the TELA Maize. In different forums, online or onsite where GMOs have been discussed, they condemned the government’s defiant deployment of GMOs – highlighting health and environmental risks, attempts at corporate control of the Nigerian food system, and the clear fact that Nigeria does not need GMOs to address food insecurity.
The coalition called on the House of Reps to uphold the decision to suspend the introduction of new GMOs in the country and to ensure a thorough assessment of the (long and short-term) impact of GMOs in Nigeria.
“Nigeria should endorse and invest in Agroecology which is a sustainable system of farming that can address major food system challenges in Nigeria including poor productivity, low income for farmers, food inflation, climate change impacts, gender inequalities, poor access to land and infrastructure etc while mitigating environmental impact,” the statement added.
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