Prof. Abdullahi Mustapha, Director-General, National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), has solicited medical practitioners support to educate Nigerians on the safety of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO).
Abdullahi made the appeal at a one-day sensitisation programme for medical practitioners in Abuja with the theme “Science, Safety and Benefits of Agricultural Biotechnology Products”.
“Nigeria is faced with challenges of rapid population growth and urbanisation 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, are obsolete and do not correspond to the new climatic factors. There is high pressure of insect pests and diseases; soil fertility is low with lack of capital funding for investments,” he said.
Abdullahi urged the medical practitioners and other critical stakeholders to support the Federal Government’s drive in enhancing food production and availability to deepen Nigeria’s biotechnology experience.
According to him, the country requires modern technology for an increased and sustainable food production.
The D-G said it was important that medical practitioners be enlightened on the safety gauges put in place to ensure that technology deployment did not harm Nigerians and the environment.
He said that biotechnology deployment in Nigeria had yielded enormous fruits, given a number of genetically modified crops that had been successfully developed and commercialised, with a good number of others at various stages of development.
In a presentation, Dr Rose Gidado, Director, Department of Agricultural Biotechnology at NABDA, said the workshop was expected to bridge all existing information gaps between agricultural scientists and medical practitioners on activities of GMOs.
Gidado noted that scientists through biotechnology have succeeded in using living organisms and biological processes to improve life on earth.
She said that biotechnology application had 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.
Gidado said that the agriculture sector serves as the resource factor for other sectors including medicine, industry and environment.
The one-day sensitisation workshop, which was organised in collaboration with relevant stakeholders and regulators, included Programme for Biosafety Systems (PBS).
The stakeholders are: the African Agricultural Technology Foundation, Nigerian Medical Association, National Biosafety Management Agency, National Agricultural Seed Council, National Agricultural Quarantine Service, and Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Council. (NAN)
