Farming Without Modern Technology Cannot Guarantee Food Security – NABDA DG

The Director General, National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), Professor Abdullahi Mustapha has said Nigeria’s current way of farming without modern technologies cannot guarantee food security. According to him, the country’s farming population is decreasing, hence the need to adopt modern technologies like biotechnology becomes necessary. Mustapha stated this at a One-Day Sensitization Workshop themed ‘Community Empowerment Through Agricultural Biotechnology: The Role of Council Chairmen, Clerics, Monarchs, Extension Worker and Farmers,’ for Council Chairmen, Religious Cleric, Traditional Rulers, Farmers and Extension Agents From Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council. Represented by the Country Coordinator of Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB), Dr Rose Gidado, the NABDA DG described the meeting as very critical because Nigeria has reached a stage where an average citizen is finding it difficult to provide food for himself and his dependent, stressing that the farming method in the country is no longer productive while the population is rapidly growing. He said, “The reason for this is not far-fetched. We have continued to plant on the same size of land that is depleted every year to urbanisation, desertification and other vulnerabilities associated with climate change. We lose a substantial portion of our agricultural land annually. “Let me also inform you that our farming population is not getting younger. The age of the average farmer in Nigeria is about 60 years, the youths are all going into the city for white collar jobs, leaving the feeding of over 200 million people entirely in the hands of aged men and women, “Mustapha pointed out. Also, the NABDA DG informed that the essence of inviting traditional rulers, clerics and others was to inform them about the latest innovation Nigeria has embraced in providing affordable, safe, and nutrient rich food to its populace. His words: “Biotechnology and its tools have proven to provide spot-on solutions to most of the challenges facing agricultural productivity. With biotechnology, we can undertake precision agriculture that brings about increased yields, safe and clean harvest. “Already, our farmers have started celebrating as we have successfully released some varieties of improved crops to ensure they maximally benefit from this technology that other countries have been using for over 25 years. “In Africa, leaders have shown interest in adopting modern agricultural biotechnology because of its potential to address hunger and unemployment. Modern biotechnology practice, which uses genetic modification tools, will provide safer, cheaper, better, quality, less waste, less energy, more environmentally friendly and more sustainable products. “Application of biotechnology to agriculture will ensure the production of significantly more food on less land with less water in conditions of increasingly unpredictable climate and market, with less manual labour as well as reduce the amount of waste and losses, while producing more nutritious and safe food,” Mustapha added.