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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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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