Post on 28-Apr-2023
BIOTECHNOLOGY AND ITS POTENTIAL ROLE INSUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN
NIGERIA
BY
FATIMA BATUL MUKHTAR (Ph.D)
3rd Public Lecture, Northwest University, Kano
30th, October, 2014
1
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Agriculture is the most important sector of
Nigeria’s economy with about 70% of the population
engaged in farming (Okolo, 2004). However,
farming is mainly subsistence, on small farms and
carried out with simple tools. The small holder
farmers face a lot of constraints which include
poor access to modern inputs, environmental
degradation and inadequate research and extension
services (Lawan, 2011). In spite of this, the
small farms produce about 80% of the total food.
In 1990, it was reported that 82 million hectares
of Nigeria’s total land area of about 91 million
hectares were arable but less than 50% are
cultivated (www.nations encyclopaedia). The
country is endowed with rich agricultural
resources and a diverse agro-ecological condition
which makes it possible to produce a wide range of
agricultural products, yet in spite of this there
has been a gradual decline in agricultural
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contribution to the nation’s economy from 65-75 %
of total exports in the 1960s to 40% in the 1970
and less than 2% in the late 1990s (Manyong et al.,
2005). Abayomi (1997) has blamed stagnation in
Agriculture as the main reason for poor economic
performance.
Nigeria is the most populous Country in Africa
with a current population of about 170 million (as
at 2012) and a growth rate of 2% p.a. It is
projected that by 2050, world population will
reach nine (9) billion according to the Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO). The population of
Nigeria has been projected to reach 440.4 million
by mid-2050 as released by the Population
Reference Bureau in the 2013 world Population Data
Sheet (Okpi, 2013). This will place Nigeria as the
third most populous Country in the world just
behind India and China who will have a population
of 1.65 billion and 1.31 billion respectively
(Okpi, 2013). Hunger, malnutrition and poverty
remain widespread in the Country. There is
therefore the need to device ways to increase food
3
production to feed this projected number of people
to solve these three problems.
Agriculture is the most important economic
activity in Nigeria as most Nigerians are
subsistent farmers and depend on agriculture for
their livelihoods. Thus agriculture holds the
potential to reverse these trends and stimulate
wider economic growth once adequate attention is
given to it that will result in increased yield.
Many efforts have been made in the past to
accelerate agricultural development. This include
the National Accelerated Food Production Program
(NAFPP) in 1960, Operation Feed the Nation,
launched in 1976, Green Revolution Program
Launched in 1980. There were also the agency
based intervention programmes which include;
National Agricultural Land Development Authority
(NALDA), River Basin Development Authority (RBDA),
Agricultural Development programmes (ADPs) which
started in 1972 and Directorate of Food, Road and
Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI) (Daneji, 2011). Yet,
while these programmes have recorded major
successes, many limitations including lack of
4
continuity have hindered the much desired goal of
achieving self- sufficiency in food (Daneji,
2011). In the face of the rapidly increasing
population in Nigeria and with less people engaged
in farming than before, there is the need to
double food production to feed the population and
reduce the level of hunger, malnutrition and
poverty. This is a great challenge especially
considering the fact that available agricultural
resources such as water and nitrogen are limiting.
This paper looks at agricultural biotechnology and
examines the promise it holds in eradicating
poverty, hunger and malnutrition in Nigeria
through provision of food security. What are the
benefits and risks of engineered foods? What are
the challenges of genetic engineering that are
likely to be faced in Nigeria? Will Nigerian
farmers be able to meet the challenges? Can they
afford the technology or will they have to succumb
their small farms to giant agricultural companies?
2.0 DEFINITION AND HISTORY OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
2.1 Definition
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Biotechnology is a collection of scientific
techniques that uses living organisms or
substances from those organisms to improve plants,
animals and micro-organisms for the benefit of the
society. It can be applied in Medicine,
Agriculture, pharmaceutical and food industries,
biofuels, e.t.c. Agricultural biotechnology
encompasses both traditional biotechnology such as
biological control of pests, conventional plant
breeding, and animal vaccine production as well as
modern biotechnology (Uma lee, 2003). With
biotechnology agricultural productivity is
increased based on the understanding of DNA.
Scientists are able to identify genes that may
confer advantages on certain crops and use these
characteristics precisely to improve crops and
livestock. In essence therefore, biotechnology
enhances the ability of breeders to make
improvements in crops and animals including
improvements that are not possible with
traditional crossing of related species alone
(USAID, 2004).
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2.2 HISTORY
For about 10,000 years, farmers have been
improving wild plants and animals through the
selection and breeding of desirable
characteristics. This has resulted in the
domesticated plants and animals that are commonly
used in crop and livestock agriculture.
Consequently food crops today are very different
from the original wild plants from which they were
derived. The Desirable traits included crop
varieties (known as cultivars) with shortened
growing seasons, larger seeds and fruits, higher
nutritional content, longer shelf life and better
adaptation to diverse ecological condition under
which crops are grown (Wieczorek and Mark, 2012).
Agriculture has thus undergone tremendous
changes just like transportation which has changed
over the centuries to become more efficient due to
technology.
Modern biotechnology is built on the works
of pioneers such as Egyptians, Christopher
Columbus, Louis Pasteur, Gregor Mendel, James
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Watson and Francis Crick and Herbert Boyer whose
works were able to improve quality of life.
The ancient Egyptians (2500-2000BC) applied
the process of fermentation to make wine and dough
rise for bread. Egyptians also bred geese and
cattle to meet their nutritional and dietary
needs.
Louis Pasteur in 1864 developed the process
of pasteurization which allowed products such as
milk to be transported without spoiling.
The study of the principles of heredity was
done in the mid-1800s by Gregor Mendel who
successfully cross bred traits and showed that
differences such as plant height or colour could
be attributed to genes. He explained how traits
are passed from parent to offspring thereby
revolutionizing agriculture (Wieckzorek and Mark
2012). In the early 20th century (by 1926), Henry
Wallace applied the principles of hybridization
(crossing of plant varieties) to develop new,
higher yielding seeds. This is the conventional
plant breeding process from which modern
biotechnology evolved. The discovery of DNA
8
structure and how it works by James Watson and
Francis Crick in the early 1950s (1953) is another
miles stone that lead to more understanding of
genetics and how genes function (Pray, 2008).
Understanding DNA was essential in the
development of biotechnology as it allows
scientists to develop favourable traits by
inserting DNA from one organism to another. Thus
Scientists saw the potential to develop crops that
can protect themselves from disease and weeds and
in the field of medicine, Scientists saw the
potential for developing new drugs. This marked
the birth of Biotechnology. The first Scientists
to apply this technology in the field of medicine
were Cohen and Boyer in 1970s. They developed
insulin to help people with diabetes from human
DNA where they removed a gene for Insulin and
using biotechnology inserted it into bacteria and
the gene reproduced a larger quantity of insulin.
Initially, insulin was taken from pigs and cows.
From 1980 to today, new crop varieties were
developed using biotechnology process. The
testing of biotech-derived foods began in 1980s in
the United States, and in 1994 with approval of9
the Federal Department of Agriculture (FDA), the
Flavr Savr ® tomato was released to consumers.
Since then, new soybean and corn varieties have
been released. Other crop varieties released are
canola, cotton, pawpaw etc.
Biotechnology is thus a tool for crop
improvement which developed with development in
the understanding of genetics.
3.0 APPLICATIONS OF BIOTECHNOLOGY IN AGRICULTURE
There are four main areas of application in
which biotechnology can be used in agriculture and
these there are;
1. Tissue Culture
2. Molecular Marker Assisted breeding (MAB)
3. Disease Diagnostic and
4. Genetically modified Organisms (GMOs)
1. Tissue Culture
This is a micro propagation technique that
involves the regeneration of plants in the
laboratory from disease-free plant parts. It is
the simplest and most inexpensive of the
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technique. Tissue culture permits researchers to
clone plant material by excising small amounts of
tissue from plants of interest, and then inducing
growth of the tissue on media into plantlets. The
plantlets are then transferred to another medium
to ultimately form a new plant with roots. These
are then taken to the green house where they are
allowed to acclimatize before they are finally
transferred onto the field. This new plant carries
the entire genetic information of the donor plant
(Wieczorek and Wright, 2012; Chikaire and Nnadi,
2012) thus copies of plant could be produced
without seeds or pollination. The advantage of
tissue culture is that the ensuring plants are
generally stronger, reach maturity earlier than
ordinary plants, free of pests and most diseases
and with higher yield (chikaire and Nnadi, 2012).
An example of success of the technology is TC
banana. The yield of banana was increased by
using tissue culture technique. Diseases and
pests were not carried from the mother, quality
and vigor were maintained, maturation was early
and the banana matured at the same time. These
contrast with the conventionally produced banana.
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Kenya and Tanzania have adopted this technology
and have become a success story.
2. Molecular Marker Assisted Breeding (MAB)
With MAB Scientists can use molecular
marker to select plants or animals that possess a
desirable gene even in the absence of a visible
trait by simply examining the DNA of an organism.
They are identified through the use of restriction
enzymes that cut a strand of DNA whenever they
recognise a specific sequence of the base pairs or
nucleotides that are repeated along its length.
These markers assist in the development of crop
varieties which could be resistant to biotic and
abiotic stresses. Genes associated with important
traits can be detected on young plantlets by
simple laboratory tests without having to grow the
plants to maturity in the field. This reduces the
time taken to develop a new variety (chikaire and
Nnadi, 2012). This is in contrast with
traditional breeding which involves selection of
individual plants or animals based on visible or
measurable traits. Thus with MAB, breeding is
more precise and efficient. For example, the
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture12
(IITA) has used molecular makers to obtain cowpea
that is resistant to bruchid (a beetle), disease
resistant white yam and Cassava resistant to
Mosaic Disease. Another use of molecular makers
is to identify undesirable genes that can be
eliminated in future generation (USAID, 2004).
3. Disease Diagnostic/Molecular Diagnostics
These are methods that detect genes or gene
products. They are very precise and specific and
are used in Agriculture to diagnose livestock
diseases more accurately. With this technology it
is possible to identify pathogens more rapidly
(chikaire and Nnadi, 2012).
4. Genetically modified Organisms (GMOs)
This involves the movement of genes from one
organism to another. It has been called Genetic
modification (GM), Genetic Engineering (GE) or
Genetic Improvement (GI). It allows the transfer
of useful traits e.g resistance to disease into a
plant, animal or micro-organism by inserting genes
from another organism.
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Genetic modification involves;
a) Identifying the gene of interest for a
trait e.g insect resistant genes, weed resistant
genes etc.
b) Inserting the gene of interest into an
organism of interest (e.g. insert insect
resistance gene into a susceptible plant to make
it resistant).
The genes can come from a variety of sources;
i. From the same plant species.
ii. From wild relatives.
iii. From another crop.
iv From bacteria or another organism.
Plants that have genes from other organisms are known
as TRANSGENIC.
This technology is common with crop plants. It
is carried out to aid farmers to increase
productivity by reducing crop damage from weeds,
diseases or insects.
3.1 MAKING A GE PLANT
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Scientists can create plants using genetic
engineering in the following way;
1. Scientists find a bacterium [Bacillus thuringiensis
(Bt)] in soil that naturally contains a protein
that kills insect pests that feed on corn plants.
They extract from the bacteria’s DNA the segment,
or gene, that makes the toxic protein.
2. They use a gene gun to shoot copies of the
segment into the nucleus of corn cells. They grow
the cells into plants, harvest the seeds from the
plants and grow the seeds into new corn plants.
3. Every cell in the new corn plants and in
their offspring is now programmed to make the
toxic protein, which kills the insect pests when
they try to eat the plants (Jaffe, 2012).
An alternative method to the use of a gene gun is,
after isolating the gene that produces the lethal
protein, it is removed from the Bt bacterium and
attached to a marker gene for antibiotic
resistance. The Bt gene with the marker is
inserted into plant cells. The plant cells are
then grown in the presence of antibiotic and the
cells that survive are the genetically transformed
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plant cells which are then grown into whole plants
by plant tissue culture technique. This way the
modified plants will produce the same lethal Bt
protein as the Bt bacteria because they have the
same gene.
4.0 THE BENEFITS OF GENETICALLY ENGINEERED FOODS
Just like everything else, biotechnology has both
benefits and risks. The benefits include, enhanced
crop protection, increased productivity and
improvements in food processing. This can be gathered
from the kinds of traits engineered into both crops
and animals and from the experiences of countries
that have adopted and applied the tools of
biotechnology in agriculture.
4.1 ENHANCED CROP PROTECTION
Insect tolerance
Insect tolerance has been induced in some crops
through genetic engineering. Most of the
commercially engineered crops in the United States
contain genes that provide either resistance to
pests or tolerance to herbicides. For example GE
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corn and cotton contain genes from the soil
Bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). The proteins
produced from these genes destroy certain insect
pests upon ingestion. Bacillus thuringiensis is a
bacterial species that naturally creates proteins
that are toxic to insects, but do not affect other
animals or plants and most other non- target
organisms. The gene that creates this toxin has
been transferred into a variety of crops. When the
insect eats a small amount of the plant, it dies.
This eliminates the need to use chemical
pesticides. Different Bt genes produce proteins
that target different pests (Jaffe, 2012). It has
been shown from studies that farmers growing Bt
corn reduce the total insect population not only
on their farms but the farms of their neighbours
thereby extending the benefit to non GE farmers
and increasing yield. This technique enhances crop
protection. Note that the protein from the soil
bacterium has been used for decades as the active
ingredient of some natural insecticides
( Wieczoreck and Wright, 2012).
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4.2 INCREASED CROP PRODUCTIVITY
4.2.1Herbicide tolerance
Biotechnology has led to increase in crop
productivity by introducing qualities such as
disease and herbicide resistance and increased
drought tolerance. Some herbicides are known kill
virtually all plants and so cannot be used on
crops. Currently, Plants that are not affected by
herbicides have been genetically engineered. GE
soybeans, corn, canola, sugar beets, cotton and
alfalfa contain a bacterial gene that protects the
crops from particular herbicides. With this
protection, herbicide can be applied on the crop,
and only weeds are killed. This makes it easier
for farmers as they can apply the pesticide after
crop emergence and not just before (Jaffe, 2012).
So far the commercially available herbicide
tolerant crops are tolerant to 3 herbicides based
on three active ingredients: bromoxynil,
glyphosate, and glufosinate.
4.2.2Virus tolerance
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Some varieties of papaya and squash have been
engineered to be resistant to plant viruses and
are available for commercial use. These plants
contain a gene taken from a virus that protects
them against infections caused by the virus
(Jaffe, 2012).
4.2.3Stress tolerance
Traits such as drought tolerance, salinity
tolerance, and nitrogen utilization are being
researched into. This will certainly help farmers
overcome stress conditions (Jaffe, 2012).
4.3 IMPROVED NUTRITIONAL VALUE AND FLAVOR
Through genetic engineering, nutritional value,
flavor and texture of foods are improved.
Healthier fatty acids in soybeans and other oil
seeds have been engineered into plants in the
laboratory though not yet commercialized (Jaffe,
2012). Also, potatoes with improved amino acid
content and more nutritionally available starch,
beans with more amino acid, rice with the ability
to produce beta – carotene are being developed.
Researchers in India recently announced the
creation of genetically modified potato in which
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the protein content is increased by a third
(chikaire and Nnadi, 2012).
Transgenic peppers and melons with improved
flavour are currently in field trials. An enzyme
known as chymosin is produced by GE bacteria and
is now used to manufacture 60% of all cheese in
place of calf rennet. It provides high cheese
yield efficiency, ensures continuous supply,
greater purity and a reduction cost of 50%.
The shelf life of fresh produce can also be
increased GE. This makes it easier to transport
fresh produce and at the same time decay, damage,
and loss of nutrients are prevented. There are
efforts underway to modify carrots, melons,
celery, broccoli and raspberry.
4.4 GENETICALLY ENGINEERED ANIMALS
Scientists create genetically engineered animals
in the same way they create genetically engineered
plants in the laboratory. Though research in this
area has been on for 20 years, only few
commercially engineered animals are available.
These include; engineered cow which produces milk20
that lacks a key protein that triggers allergies,
AquaBounty’s salmon that grows twice the rate of
conventional salmon thereby increasing the
sustainable production of the fish. Also, goats
engineered with a human gene that acts like a
pharmaceutical industry. It produces a bioactive
molecule in its milk which is separated from the
milk and sold as the drug ATRYN.
Agriculture companies are also using biotechnology
to improve production of meat and dairy products
and to improve processing of other foods. For
example increasing milk production using the
hormone Bovine somato‐tropin (BST), Cloning cows
that produce high milk or beef stock. In 2008, the
FDA approved sale of beef and milk from cloned
cattle.
The benefits of biotechnology therefore include;
increased productivity by introducing qualities
such as disease and herbicide resistance and
increased drought tolerance which has simplified
and reduced the effort and time needed to battle
weeds, enhanced crop production through
engineering crops that make a protein which kills
certain insects when they feed on them,21
improvements in food processing, nutritional
value, flavour and shelf life of fresh produce
(Jaffe, 2012; Wieczorek, 2003 ) .
GE crops also benefit non- GE farmers because it
has been shown from studies that farmers growing
Bt corn reduce the total insect population not
only on their farms but also the farms of their
neighbours who do not grow GE corn resulting in
higher yield (Jaffe, 2012).
4.5 ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS
Growing GE crops also has environmental benefits.
This is because with genetic engineering there is
reduction in pesticide use and hence less
pesticide accumulates in food and ground water.
The hazard of exposure of farmers to pesticide is
minimized and there are significantly less
hospitalizations due to less poisoning from
chemical pesticides. For instance the use of Bt
cotton has substantially reduced the use of highly
poisonous insecticides in USA, China, India and
other countries (Wieczoreck, 2003; Jaffe, 2012).
Tillage which is one of the major causes of soil
erosion as a result of loss of top soil is also
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reduced by GE technology because it allows built
in weed control as opposed to weed control through
tillage. Thus soil erosion is reduced due to the
undisturbed layer of leaf residue (Savindo et al.,
2006 ).
5.0 RISKS OF GENETICALLY ENGINEERED FOODS
Most of the controversy raging is not about
biotechnology as a whole but actually on GMOs and
it is for this reason that focus is made on it in
this section. Many people feel that the dangers of
consuming transgenic foods are not known including
the potential long term effect. This is especially
with the revealed effect of Thalidomide which has
for long (1050s to 1960s) been prescribed to women
to help them with morning sickness but the drug is
now associated with birth defects. Another
incidence is the mad cow disease. The fact that
the long term effect of GMOs cannot be ascertained
because it has not been tested since humans cannot
be used as experimental subjects is another matter
of concern. Such experiences have created fear and
anxiety with respect to consumption of GMOs on
health ground. The Zambian President Levi
Mwanawasa refused to accept donation of GM maize23
from United States when they had a famine in the
country suggesting they had rather die than be
poisoned. This has raised opposition from
opponents who view consumption of GMOs as akin to
poisoning people and the environment and the
companies are only concerned with the profit.
However the companies argue that modern
agriculture needs to be improved and why would
they want to produce poison and release to humans.
Why do people take penicillin which is an
antibiotic, why cheese, beer etc. while these
fears may be irrational still they are not
unfounded when the incidences from history are
examined. The environmentalists also nurse
similar anxiety concerning the impact of GMOs on
the environment and biodiversity. Hence the risks
can be approached from health, environmental and
social perspectives.
5.1 HEALTH RISKS
The primary health concern associated with GE
foods is the production of new allergens or
toxins or increased level of naturally occurring
toxicants or allergens found in crops. It may
result in new harmful substances produced by the
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plant (Jaffe, 2012). Allergies are caused by
proteins and because most engineered crops
produce new proteins it is possible that new
allergens could be present in a GE plant. There
is also concern that new antibiotic resistant
strains of bacteria will emerge from the
antibiotic resistant genes that are used to
identify and trace a trait of interest that has
been introduced into the plant cells in order to
ensure that a gene transfer is successful. Some
opponents of GE consider the rise of diseases
that are resistant to treatments with common
antibiotics as a serious medical concern.
5.2 ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS
GE crops could harm the environment in different
ways;
a.Impact on non- target organisms
If the GE crop produces substances that kill
non- target species such as beneficial insects
like honey bee, birds or other organisms above
or below ground. For example researchers at
Cornell University found that pollen from Bt
corn could kill caterpillars of butterfly under
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laboratory conditions. However, when the study
was followed up in the field it was shown that
butterfly from caterpillars are not likely to
come in contact with pollen from Bt corn
( Jaffe, 2012; Wieczorek, 2003).
b.“Vounteer” crops
If GE crops grow where they are not wanted, for
instance as “volunteer” crops and the
“volunteer” is an herbicide – resistant
variety, there may be fewer herbicides to
control it. This happened with some herbicide
resistant canola in Canada. The “volunteer”
crops have now become weeds and would have to
be controlled by other measures (Jaffe, 2012)
c.Potential gene escape and “super” weeds
In the event of cross pollination between GE
and their wild relatives it is likely to result
in “super” weeds that become difficult to
control. Pollen transfer from glyphosate
resistant crops to related weeds can confer
resistance to glyphosate. While the chance of
this happening is small, still if it does the
weeds could be controlled with other
herbicides. Other people fear that genetic
26
engineering could improve a plant’s ability to
escape into the wild and produce ecological
imbalances and disasters. However this is least
likely because plants have got their growth and
dispersal habits which makes them rquire
constant nurture by man and so they are not
likely to thrive in the wild as weeds
(Wieczorek, 2003).
d.Insecticide and herbicide resistance
All of the commercially available insect-
tolerant plants contain a version of the toxin
Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), which is found in nature
in soil bacteria. Bt toxins are highly toxic to
chewing insects like beetles and moth larva,
but not toxic to mammals and most other non-
tamrget organisms. There is concern that the
use of Bt crops will in a period of 3-5 years
lead to resistance to the toxin in pests and
weeds, that is, insects may develop resistance
to Bt crops and weeds that are resistant to
glyphosate may emerge. If this happens, then Bt
toxin will no longer be effective as a
pesticide. The loss of Bt efficacy will affect
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not only those who currently use the engineered
Bt crops, but also many other farmers who use
Bt in its natural bacterial form, usually as a
spray. These other farmers include those who
grow food organically and those who use Bt as
part of integrated pest management (IPM) plans.
Natural Bt sprays are a valuable mode of pest
control for these farmers. Secondary pests may
also become more prominent due to targeted
control of the primary pest. Note that Bt crops
specifically target the primary pest, therefore
other measures have to be used to control the
secondary pest. The issues related to insect
resistance are however not new or unique to GE
crops. Even in the other conventional practices
many weeds and insects have evolved resistance
to pesticides and more toxic pesticides were
needed to control them (Wieczorek, 2003).
5.3 SOCIAL RISKS
a.Labelling
Labelling is about consumer rights and not just
a health issue. Consumers have the right to28
make an informed choice on GMOs. While some
countries have stringent regulations about
labelling like the European Union, other
countries like US, Canada and Argentina which
are big producers of GMOs do not observe these
regulations.
Foods derived from GE crops that are currently
sold in some countries like the United States
do not carry labels. Even though some consumers
protest against this but according to the law
in the country, only foods that have different
nutritional constitution from the conventional
food will be labelled (Wieczorek, 2003).
However, surveys commissioned by various
organizations have shown that people are
seeking for transparency and consumer choice
and believe that compulsory labelling of GM
ingredients is highly required: 88% Canadians,
92% Americans and 93% French. The opponents of
labelling believe that it will make consumers
reluctant to use engineered foods and it may
also hold back progress on the technology as
well as lead to increase in costs and
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logistical difficulties (Maghari and Ardekani,
2011).
b.“Terminator” seeds
Seeds that are harvested from GE crops cannot
be saved and re-planted the following year.
These “terminator” seeds are genetically
engineered to prevent farmers from re-planting
them. This implies that purchasers will have to
buy the transgenic seeds every time they are
planting. Consequently the giant companies have
monopoly of the technology (Wieczorek, 2003).
6.0 POTENTIAL ROLE OF BIOTECHNOLOGY IN
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA
Agricultural development is critical to the
present and future economic growth of Nigeria and
in the alleviation of hunger, malnutrition and
poverty amongst the people. Many approaches have
been attempted in the past as discussed at the
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beginning of this write up. However it can be
deduced that no single approach will provide the
desired agricultural productivity rather multiple
approaches are required. These multiple approaches
include, organic farming, conventional breeding,
variety selection, new irrigation technologies,
more precise use of fertilizer, integrated pest
management and biotechnology.
Agricultural biotechnology has over time
developed a broad spectrum of options for food,
feed and fibre production (Wieckzorek, 2003 and
Wright 2012). This modern biotechnology is simply
an integration of new techniques with the well-
established approaches of traditional breeding,
food production, fermentation products and
processes and production of pharmaceuticals and
fertilizers (Doyle and Parsley, 1996).
Biotechnology has had an enormous impact on the
agriculture and food industries, being used to
improve crop yields and increase plantsʹ
resistance to disease, insects and drought;
increase milk production; treat and prevent animal
diseases; and develop better ways of processing
foods.31
Biotechnology in agriculture is thus meant to
enable farmers to produce more bountiful crop
yields, thus aiding in feeding more people. It is
considered to be cost effective. GM crops are said
to produce stable and reliable turn-over at low
expenditures. GM will also enhance the seed
strains themselves by making them resistant to
herbicides, viruses and pests. Crops could be
coded for stress tolerance as well as prevent
further damage to farming area. However opponents
of this technology have objected to the claims of
the proponents and denied that any increase in
yield or reduction in herbicide and pesticide as a
result of the technology. The most widespread
application of genetic engineering in agriculture
by far is in engineered crops. Thousands of such
products have been field tested and over a dozen
have been approved for commercial use. The traits
most commonly introduced into crops are herbicide
tolerance, insect tolerance, and virus tolerance.
Similarly in animal production there is
substantial opportunity for development of
vaccines and diagnostics targeting diseases which
constrain livestock production. In addition
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genetic markers can aid breeding of livestock for
important traits such as disease resistance,
improved product quality as well as improved
productivity (Sere and Rege, 2007). Therefore
biotechnological tools (tissue culture, MAB, GE)
provide promising opportunities for achieving
greater food security and improving the quality of
life as well. Already biotechnology has started
taking root in Africa. Countries like Burkina
Faso, Kenya, Egypt, Uganda, Malawi have all
adopted biotechnology and have accepted GMOs and
are at various stages; research, field trial or
commercialization with support of donor agencies
and private sectors. In Nigeria, biotechnology
policy was adopted in 2001 which led to the
establishment of National Biotechnology
Development Agency (NABDA). The agency is mandated
to coordinate, promote, and regulate the
development of biotechnology in the country.
Newsrescue (2012) reported that the Nigerian
Minister of Agriculture, Akinwunmi Adeshina has
embarked on a project with Global Multinationals
to introduce GMO seeds into the Nigerian
agricultural system, including flood resistant
33
rice seeds to farmers and also 60 day maturing
‘miracle’ maize seeds free of charge. So far the
country has three (3) GM crops are in confined
trial. These are, cowpea, sorghum and cassava. The
cowpea project is to ensure the production of
Maruca pod borer resistant cowpea. Maruca vitrata is
an insect that damages cowpea pods on farms and
the gene of the soil bacteria Bt produces a
protein that is toxic to it. The project is
carried out by African Agricultural Technology
Foundation (AATF) and sponsored by USAID. The
International Research and Biotechnology Advisor
of USAID, John McMurdy recently reported that the
Agency has earmarked $10M (N1.7billion) for
extension of the cowpea project from 2014 – 2018
in Nigeria, and Burkina Faso. The investment is to
take the cowpea technology to the finish until it
gets regulatory approval (Premium Times, 2014).
Similarly, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is
funding Bio- cassava plus (BC+) research that has
to do with enrichment of the cassava with iron and
B-carotene. Another on-going project is that of
Africa Bio- fortified sorghum (ABS).
34
Evidence that agricultural biotechnology can
benefit countries like Nigeria could be seen from
the experiences of other countries that have
adopted the technology. The United States of
America leads in the advances in biotechnology as
well as in promoting for its adoption. Many
farmers there have accepted the technology and
they grow corn, soybean, canola, cotton. About 60-
70% of food products on store shelves contain some
quantity of crops produced with these technologies
(Wieczorek, 2003 ). China went into biotechnology
in the early 1980s with substantial public
investments in rice biotechnology and rice
breeding in order to develop hybrid rice
varieties, cotton biotechnology for insect
resistance, production of value added
horticultural crops and use of nematodes for
biological pest control. This has led to increased
export markets. Statistics show that hybrid rice
account for more than 30% of rice in China. Also
over 5 million farmers grow Bt cotton on 1 mha of
land and use of biological control has reduced
pesticide use on cotton by 30% (Sere and Rege,
2007). South Africa has been growing biotech crops
35
since 1997and has increased the hectarage from
197,000 ha in 2001 to 1.4 mha in 2006. The crops
so far commercialized are Bt cotton, Bt maize and
soybean. Income from farming has increased by $76
million between 1998 -2005 (Anderson, 2007).
7.0 THE CHALLENGES OF BIOTECHNOLGY IN
NIGERIA
Generally agriculture is facing serious challenges
in the country. These challenges range from lack
of sophisticated farming tools, to insufficient or
high cost of fertilizer, unavailability of
improved seeds, poor irrigation practices. Decades
ago during the green revolution era, these led to
increased yields in India and other developing
countries but not so in Nigeria or even the
continent of Africa. Again farmers are abandoning
their farms and moving to the urban areas for more
lucrative jobs thereby further widening the gap
towards agricultural sustainability. Large
international companies also have their eyes on
Africa because of its potential to become the
breadbasket of the world due to its highly fertile
land. They are grabbing land from small farmers
and putting them out of job with the support of36
the Governments as in Mozambique. In Mozambique,
thousands lost their farms to a Chinese company,
Wanbao Africa Agricultural Development Company,
without compensation, though the company says it
is training farmers to grow rice (Bourne, 2014).
Mozambique is not the only country in Africa where
this is happening and it is gradually spreading.
Could this lead to another imperialism –
colonization through agriculture? Certainly modern
farming techniques with all their sophistication
and high costs are the only solution to the food
problems faced by the continent if it is to
adequately feed its populace and even export.
However the right policies and programmes need to
be in place that will enable farmers afford them.
The challenges of biotechnology especially in
developing countries including Nigeria are
enormous. These include lack of knowledge of the
new technology, lack of professionals,
sophisticated equipment, political will, financial
resources and ethical concerns. The right policies
are also not in place and there is insufficient
public and private investments and absence of
relevant infrastructure for the delivery of the
37
technologies. The benefits of biotechnology can
only be realized when knowledge of the technology
becomes available and the country develops
appropriate policies that will facilitate the
development and utilization of both human and
financial resources as well as the requisite
infrastructure and functioning support
institutions (Sere and Rege, 2007). So far the
developed countries led by the United States have
monopoly of this technology which is associated
with risks. African continent with its large
population, high level of poverty and food
insecurity will be amongst the greatest consumers
of the product of the technology. Because of the
risks involved it becomes imperative for Nigerian
and indeed African Scientists to have access to
the knowledge and scientific infrastructure to be
able to manage the risks and set the regulatory
laws which are highly needed due to the risks. It
is also important to have professionals who can
engage in public enlightenment on the potentials
and challenges of the technology. This is because
open public discussions will most certainly play a
significant role in defining the role
38
biotechnology will play in the society as the
technology continues to evolve. There is need for
the Scientists to engage in competitive and
international collaborative researches that will
lead to breakthroughs in the cross- cutting
technology in order to gain from its benefits.
Consequently there is need for intensive education
and capacity building.
Religious groups also have ethical concerns about
GMOs. For example, because the gene can come from
any living organism, some Muslims are sceptical
about foods that have been modified using a gene
from pig. Just recently in 2014, there was
widespread information that circulated over the
social media warning Muslims not to consume a
certain chocolate manufactured in Malaysia because
it was indicated in its label that it contains a
substance that was obtained by genetic
modification using the gene of pig. Consequently
religious groups have to address such ethical
challenges and to be able to do so they will need
to be enlightened about the technology.
With globalization, it is easy for the products of
biotechnology including GMOs to spread into the39
country. Processed foods such as cornflakes,
canned foods including corn have been on store
shelves for ages. The more recent ones which I
noticed include canola oil. These foods don’t
carry a label to indicate whether they are from
GMOs. Processed foods don’t pose any risks because
proteins are denatured at high temperature so the
problem is mainly with raw foods, fruits
vegetables, grain, meats, fish and dairies. With
shopping malls on high rise due to development the
challenge is distinguishing between GMOs and
conventional foods.
CONCLUSION
Nigeria has had a long history of developing and
adopting agricultural policies with a view to
charting the way to sustainable agricultural
production for its large population. Even the
green revolution of the 1980s has not had much
impact on the agricultural development of the
nation and the country is still far from becoming
self-sufficient. Food is still being imported,
fertilizer is inadequate and is also imported.
Majority of Nigeria’s populace remain subsistence
farmers. However, mechanised farming is the40
privilege of a few wealthy farmers and improved
crop varieties are not readily available. This is
at a time when yield is declining due to pre-
harvest and post- harvest losses caused by pests
and diseases, water and nitrogen are limiting,
climate is changing and there is demand for higher
nutrition. At the same time, Nigeria’s population
is increasing at the rate of 2% and is expected to
exceed 440 million in 2050. Therefore the issue of
food security should be of paramount importance if
hunger, malnutrition and poverty are to be
overcome. This cannot be achieved by adopting only
one practice, rather, a combination of all the
practices that is, organic farming, conventional
breeding and biotechnology are needed.
Biotechnology alone cannot substitute for the
other technologies just like organic farming or
conventional breeding cannot individually sustain
the agricultural needs of the nation. Throughout
history, technology has had beneficial impact on
nations economies and in improving the lives of
people and although some technologies faced
initial rejection by people they were eventually
accepted. Likewise biotechnology is currently
41
facing strong opposition from its opponents but
despite that it is still growing. Nigeria
therefore should not sit back and watch while it
takes over information technology in the next few
years as it is envisaged and end up only as
consumers of the product of the technology rather
it should be a part of its growth. Even though the
technology does not provide the whole solution,
its best practices can be adopted to enhance the
effectiveness of the other practices through
integrated pest and disease control, nutrient
management and breeding. It should consider the
potentials of biotechnology as a means of
enhancing agricultural development and even other
sectors like health and the industry. To be able
to achieve that, the proper policies for its
successful implementation have to be established
and pursued hence the political will has to be
there to provide the capital for the
infrastructure and other resources required. Also
biotechnology is knowledge driven and so this
important challenge has to be addressed by
producing professionals in the field. It is also
important to draw participation of the private
42
sector to compliment the efforts of the public
sector. A good starting point will be establishing
giant seed companies that will go into seed
multiplication and improvement as well as animal
farms for livestock improvement and associated
practices. Nigeria needs to identify the
appropriate biotechnology application to start
with and the crop of interest to the appropriate
biotechnology application to invest in while
exercising caution due to the risks involved.
On the other hand there is the need for the
professionals and the multi- national companies to
strengthen communication in order to clarify
issues that create doubt and mistrust of the
technology in the minds of the people especially
with regards to biosafety. Other issues that need
to be addressed are that of technology transfer,
labelling, the need to regulate if there are no
risks and relationship between multi- national
seed companies like Monsanto, Syngenta and others
with local subsistent farmers in the third world
Africa. Will these local farmers profit from the
technology considering the small sizes of their
farms? How do they ensure that the seeds reach
43
them in sufficient amount considering the demand
of the region due to the large number of farmers
as well as sustained availability of the seeds due
to the demand? The issue of ethics is another
important aspect that needs to be addressed but
this time by the nation and the various religious
groups in existence.
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