NIGERIA – Expert scientists and plant breeders in Nigeria have unanimously proposed adopting and integrating agricultural biotechnology to boost farmers’ productivity in the country.
The experts highlighted this during a one-day interactive session on Navigating Biotech Frontiers for Accurate Science Communication for Editors held in Lagos.
They noted that the country’s agricultural sector can potentially offer sustainable solutions if approached strategically.
According to them, the sector has a promising key to diversify the economy, stimulate job creation and earn substantial foreign exchange while driving sustainable economic development.
However, the country is yet to leverage the opportunities in the sector owing to the slow adoption of new technologies, in its agricultural space explaining that biotech offers new tools to boost food production, note the experts.
Further illuminating that while agricultural biotechnology alone is not an all-sufficient approach, it would help transform Nigeria’s food system.
“Biotechnology offers new tools for increasing agricultural productivity and protecting food crops from climate changes such as heat, floods and drought,” said Rose Gidado, director of the agricultural biotechnology department at the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA).
“With the current state of food emergency declared in the food and agricultural sector, the integration of biotechnology tools into Nigeria’s agriculture has become a necessity.”
Earlier this year, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu declared a state of emergency on food security in Nigeria.
Special Adviser to the President, Special Duties, Communication and Strategy, Dele Alake, who announced the development at the Presidential Villa Abuja said the federal government would deploy savings from subsidy removal to food production.
Among the immediate intervention strategies listed in the statement is the creation and support of a National Commodity Board that will review and continuously assess food prices as well as maintain a strategic food reserve as a price stabilization mechanism for critical grains and other food items.
The National Seed Council and Research institutes are among the listed stakeholders on board to support the intervention efforts by the government.
According to a biotechnology article by Greentumble, this technology can potentially meet global food demand.
“With a projected global population of 9.7 billion by 2050, we face a significant food crisis. Agritech can help address this challenge by increasing crop productivity and ensuring better nutrition for a growing population,” outlines the article.
