By Professor Mohammad Faguji Ishiyaku
Imagine you are a Nigerian farmer, stepping into your field at the start of the planting season. You are hopeful, but there is also that familiar worry lingering in your mind, about a tiny insect that could ruin everything you’ve worked for.
I am talking about the pod borer.
If you have ever grown cowpeas, you know this pest very well. It is barely the size of your fingertip, but it has the power to destroy an entire harvest. For years, farmers have fought back with pesticides, spraying as many as nine times in a season. It is stressful. It is costly. And it takes a toll on their health and the environment.
So, we asked a simple question: what if the cowpea could fight back?
At the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR) in Zaria, we developed a genetically modified cowpea variety, SAMPEA 20-T engineered to resist the destructive pod borer. This innovation eliminates the need for repeated pesticide spraying by enabling the plant to produce a natural protein derived from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), a common soil bacterium that specifically targets the pest. The result of over 14 years of rigorous research (2005–2019), SAMPEA 20-T offers farmers a safer, more effective solution to protect one of Nigeria’s most important food crops.
In 2019, Nigeria became the first country in the world to approve this GM cowpea for commercial use. Since then, six planting seasons have come and gone. Thousands of farmers have grown and sold these beans, and no, there have been no reported health issues or environmental damage.
Sounds impressive, right? Well, it is not that simple. This is Nigeria, after all. Where there’s innovation, there’s often suspicion, and sometimes for good reason.
We live in a country where expired drugs are sold openly in some places. Where some frozen foods last far too long, preserved with only God knows what. So when people hear “GMO,” they are right to ask questions. Our trust in regulation hasn’t always been earned as well.
Some people are calling this GM cowpea a break through. Others are worried it is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Surprisingly, the loudest critics are not always farmers. Some used to sell pesticides and are watching their market shrink. Others are activists who talk about “food sovereignty” while eating imported foods themselves. Imagine!
But this is it: this cowpea passed every safety test. Independent experts reviewed it. No risks to humans, no harm to soil, no damage to other insects. It targets just one pest, the pod borer, and nothing else.
But the real proof is in the soup, as they say. The farmers planting it are telling us what they see.
In places like Shika and Soba, they are reporting less spraying, better yields, and more money in their pockets. Some farmers say their profits are up by 30%. They are not just saving on chemicals, they are staying healthier too.
Now, let us look at the big picture. If we planted this GM cowpea on one million hectares (that’s about twice the size of Lagos State), we could be looking at saving ₦18.4 billion a year on pesticides. The extra yield could be worth around ₦51.5 billion annually. That is not small money.
Six years in, and we are seeing real changes. More food. Healthier farms. Better profits. And all from a crop developed right here at home.
I am not saying it is perfect or that we should stop asking questions. But when we look at the evidence – from our labs, our fields, and our markets – it is hard not to feel a bit of pride in what our scientists and farmers have achieved. Maybe, just maybe, this is what progress looks like in Nigerian agriculture.
No technology is perfect. But we must ask: Do the benefits outweigh the risks? With this GM cowpea, developed, tested, and grown by Nigerians, the answer so far is yes.
We have reached a point where science has to defend itself not just against pests, but against politics, fear, and disinformation. But as always in Nigeria, the issue isn’t just the thing itself, it is what we choose to believe about it, and who we allow to shape the story.
We say we want African solutions to African problems. But when we finally build one, we hesitate, often because someone in Europe has not stamped their approval.
If we are serious about feeding our people, supporting our farmers, and protecting public health, we need to get serious about the science too. That means asking questions, but also being open to the answers.
Because if we are not careful, we may end up rejecting progress, not because it failed us, but because fear got to us first.
Professor Mohammad Faguji Ishiyakau, the former Executive Director of the Institute for Agricultural Research, Samaru, is a Professor of Plant Breeding at the Department of Plant Science, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He wrote this piece from Zaria.
