The National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) has solicited the support of medical practitioners to educate Nigerians on the safety of genetically modified organisms.
The Director General of NABDA, Professor Abdullahi Mustapha sought this support at a one-day sensitization programme for medical practitioners in Abuja with the theme “science, safety and benefits of agricultural biotechnology products”.
Meanwhile, since the introduction of GMO crops in the country as a way of supporting production of quality food, there have been mixed reactions from consumers over the safety of the crops despite various assurances of the safety both local and international.
“Nigeria is faced with challenges of rapid population growth and urbanization hence the need to double food production by 2050; In essence, Nigeria is growing poorer, and the agricultural environment is deteriorating.
“Seed varieties perform low and are obsolete and do not correspond to the new climatic factors. There is high pressure of insect pests and diseases. Soil fertility is low and there is lack of capital funding for investments,” Professor Mustapha said.
The NABDA boss urged the medical practitioners and other critical stakeholders to support the federal government move in enhancing food productivity and availability.
He further urged them to join hands with NABDA to deepen Nigeria’s biotechnology experience, stating that Nigeria requires modern technology for an increased and sustainable food production.
Professor Mustapha harped on the importance of medical practitioners who have daily contact with the people to be educated on all the safety gauges put in place by the government to ensure that the deployment of the technology does not harm Nigerians and the environment.
“It is important that medical practitioners are at the forefront of this discussion given the pivotal roles they play in patient care, and other essential parts of the country’s healthcare system”, the NABDA DG said.
He maintained that biotechnology deployment in Nigeria has yielded enormous fruits, given a number of GM crops that have been successfully developed and commercialized, while a good number of others are at various stages of development.
Dr Rose Gidado, Director, Department of Agricultural biotechnology at NABDA in her presentation said the workshop is expected to bridge all existing information gaps between agricultural scientists and medical practitioners on activities of GMOs.
Dr. Gidado stated that scientists have succeeded in using living organisms and biological processes to improve life on earth through biotechnology.
She added that biotechnology application has become very necessary in almost all sectors of the economy especially in the health sector where various vaccines are saving lives.
According to her “the application of biotechnology cuts across various fields ranging from medicine to industry, environment and agriculture, among these sectors, agriculture is the most important, because agriculture provides food without which human cannot survive in addition to serving as the resource factor for other sectors including medicine, industry and environment.”
The one-day sensitization workshop was organized in collaboration with the Program for Biosafety Systems(PBS), African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) National Biosafety Management Agency(NBMA), National Agricultural Seed Council(NASC), National Agricultural Quarantine Service(NAQS), Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Council(FCCPC).
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