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The Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) has faulted the claim that
genetically modified (GM) crops remain the veritable source of food to
world’s projected 10 billion population.
Puncturing the assertion at a dialogue with civil society organisations
(CSOs) hosted by the organisation in Benin City, Edo State, its Director
Dr. Nnimmo Bassey described food as critical to human lives.
He emphasised the benefits of nourishment derivable from eating good meals.
Bassey, who spoke on “food and farming systems in Nigeria”, stated that
food sovereignty defines the right of people at all times to access to
safe, nutritious, healthy and culturally appropriate food, produced using
methods that are ecologically sound and sustainable.
He explained that presenting GM crops as the solution for food production
in the future was propaganda, adding that the style of messaging had been
used to make people accept modules that contradict their interest.
“Why is the claim that GM foods will be the main way to feed the world
mere propaganda and an assumption that consumers do not think before
shoving foods down their throats?
“First, researchers have shown that at present, food enough to feed 13
billion persons is already being produced. This means that feeding 10
billion is already possible and the numbers in themselves should be the
reason for agitation,” Bassey queried.
He noted that food wastage was a major contributory factor to hunger
globally, the second being the deployment of foodstuff for industrial
production rather than feeding people.
The environmental expert posited that food production for increasing
needs was achievable through food sovereignty, adding that there was more
to feeding than just ingestion of cuisines.
A professor of environmental and genetic toxicology at the University of
Benin, Dan Olorunfemi, cautioned against GM crops, saying it was unsafe for
consumers, citing research findings.
