Feed Nigeria summitto empower youths, agro sector
Prof. Eustace Iyayi is a Rector of Nigerian Institute of Animal Science, and also the Chairman of Organising Committee of Feed Nigeria Summit 2020. He spoke with CORNELIUS ESSEN in Abuja on the event, and how agricultural policies and activities can boost
Tell us more about ‘ Feed Nigeria Summit.’
THE Feed Nigeria Summit is the foremost programme of the Agro Nigeria Limited that looks at all aspects of agriculture, to as to have production, and be more on the primary phase, that is part of production itself, and takes it through value chain, to market access, and that is what it has been. The programme has been since 2017 when it was launched, up to last year. Basically, it is a comprehensive programme on agriculture, looking at the policies, production environment, youth empowerment, marketers, sales, and general contribution of agriculture to the economy. What do you intend to do differently as far as food security is concerned in the country?
We are not seeking to do something differently,
but rather we are seeking to do a lot of things that would enhance food security in the country. And because whatever we do, we must make sure that food is available for the people. So, Feed Nigeria Summit, that is the central goal, and not just to make food available for the people, but we also want to think of value addition to what we produce that would have better economic benefits from agricultural activities. So, all these are tilting to ensuring production of food supply and therefore food security.
Assess our agricultural system in the light of COVID- 19 pandemic.
Before the COVID- 19 pandemic, there have been concerted efforts and calls to improve on our agricultural space, so as to make it second alternative to oil for economic gains, and that has been on the work and we are preparing in the direction. How we are going about it is another question, and I know that remarkable gain has been made. For example, in the rice value change has been made, so also other commodities. The pandemic came to totally expose Nigeria, as a nation that is not prepared in terms of food security and production sustainability. We all saw it, we didn’t have enough to feed our people, and it was made once because it wasn’t just a problem, and pandemic was not restricted to Nigeria alone, but a global phenomenon, other nations tend to hide their food reserves. So, we didn’t have anywhere to import from. That shows that we just have a big shortfall in terms of food production in this country. I have said at various occasions where I have an opportunity to speak about the challenges we saw in terms of food production during the pandemic to me, it is an opportunity for us to do things better. Actually, it is a window that has opened for us to create opportunity out of the challenges and be going forward. That is what the pandemic has shown us.
People are campaigning for genetically modified organisms, GMO, what is your take on this?
My take on GMO foods is that there are fears. The overall is not that they are bad. The first thing a hungry man is to get fed before beginning to think whether they are genetically modified foods, or not. I know that people have genuine fear. Genetically modified organisms are just a technological tool to make better certain traits plants and animals have to improve on them for production. This leads to an increase in the size of eggs, boosting meat production generally in livestock. For plants, we have to target at high yield, sweetness, and other uses at different stages in our industries. In any case, genetically modified plants and animals are not harmful. What is important is they must be controlled because they can lead to allergy in human beings as well as cause reactions because of the change in the genes of organisms. However, if it is not well checked, according to policies, consuming them one could run into problems. In terms of meeting food requirements, GMO is a good scientific tool for food security in any country.
What could say about the government banning certain food items in the country?
Yes, we have seen this happen in Nigeria. In some cases, it is necessitated to boost rice production. People now embrace Nigerian rice. Most people consume local rice, and are not bad, but the cost is high, and this is the problem. The production is low, while the demand is very high. The other aspect is that livestock and the borders were closed. We see smuggled poultry meat started coming into the country as the result of closure of our borders. This resulted in capacity utilisation of poultry fans jumped from 45 to 70 percent. So, if we were able to do it in a controlled manner it is good and would improve local production. A call for a ban on daily dairy products would equally stabilise and sustain the dairy industries, and if we can control them it would also save our foreign exchange.