GMO foods not in Nigerian markets – Ministry

The Senior Adviser on Food Security and Nutrition, Ministry of Agriculture, Dr Adeyinka Onabolu, has said the federal government is currently not pushing genetically modified organism (GMO) into the Nigerian market.

Adeyinka stated this Thursday at a news conference during the inauguration of a Food, Planet and Health report in Nigeria by the EAT-Lancet Commission.

EAT-Lancet Commission is an NGO playing a central role in putting food, health and sustainability on global agenda with “an appetite for over-sized impact’’.

Onabolu said although there had been efforts over time by the government using normal breeding techniques to improve agricultural productivity.

She said Nigeria’s agricultural sector on food security and nutrition strategy was prioritising nutrition and of Nigerians by mainstreaming nutrition into the chains of agriculture in the country.

The Nigeria Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) has also faulted reports that it had approved the distribution of genetically modified foods in the country.

It, however, gathered that the GMOs had been approved for commercial release by NBMA, but will still need to undergo other instant procedures at the National Seed Service, under the Ministry of Agriculture. As such, the GMOs are not yet in the market.

Mr Micheal Ojo, the Country Director Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), an NGO urged the federal government to formulate and focus on policies and strategies to encourage Nigerians on healthy diets.

He said such policies, when formulated would build the culture of healthy dieting in homes, curb hunger and eradicate malnutrition and Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) leading to sustainable and healthy food system in the country.

He said there is need to produce mixture of food for the Nigeria’s growing population, projected to be the third largest in the world by 2050.

“This is because there has been increased global attention on addressing malnutrition using food systems approach, which has the potential for far-reaching impact, especially for the most vulnerable,” he said.

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