Few days after Nigeria hosted the International Conference of Biotechnology (ICoB24), anti-GMOs campaigners led by the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), in collaboration with GMO-Free Nigeria Alliance, have announced that they are hosting a National Conference on GMOs scheduled to take place on Tuesday, July 30, 2024.
HOMEF, in a statement on Tuesday stated that the conference, to be held virtually will address issues related to the regulation of GMOs, the approval processes, risk assessment, access to information, and the health, economic, and environmental implications of GMOs. It stated that the conference will also highlight the way forward for food sovereignty in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, the well-attended inaugural ICoB24 hosted by the National Biotechnology Research and Development Agency (NBRDA) opened on July 15 and closed on July 19, 2024.
At the conference, hundreds of experts, including scientists and researchers from various institutions, agencies, farmers and other bodies across Nigeria and abroad held extensive discussions, answered queries and attended to public curiosities on Genetic Modification.
According to HOMEF’s Executive Director, Nnimmo Bassey, the “multi-stakeholder forum is organized to cohesively address the various concerns with GMOs, review the experience so far, and come up with clear resolutions regarding their deployment and use as well as solutions for food sovereignty in Nigeria.”
