The world is six years away from the 2030 deadline to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. This is just six annual harvests from the goals set to address key issues surrounding human survival.
Unfortunately, the world still battles nutritional challenges that cast shadows on the target. According to projections by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), more than 670 million people will be hungry globally by 2030, 310 million of whom will be in Africa.
In the 2023 Global Hunger Index, Nigeria ranks 109th out of the 125 countries with sufficient data to calculate 2023 GHI scores. With a score of 28.3 in the 2023 Global Hunger Index, Nigeria has a level of hunger that is serious,” adding that the Global Hunger Index (GHI) for Nigeria has steadily declined for the past 24 years.
Regardless of these challenges, Director, Agricultural Biotechnology Department at Nigeria’s biotech agency, the National Biotechnology Research and Development Agency (NBRDA), Dr Rose Gidado said Nigeria is making steady advancements in the adoption of modern technologies in agriculture that could see the country avert the impending food crisis.
In a presentation titled, Politics Science & Technology, Innovation Investment on behalf of NBRDA DG, Gidado said Nigeria has, however, risen up to the challenge by investing in science to make some commonly consumed crops high in nutrition, resistant to certain diseases and tolerant to drought.
Speaking at the 58th International Conference of the Agricultural Society of Nigeria (ASN), held at the Faculty of Agriculture Lecture, University of Abuja, Gidado spoke about how NBRDA and partners are harnessing the potential of quality Seeds toward improving food security and poverty alleviation using Genetic Engineering tool.
“Biotechnology is already shaping the landscape of Nigeria’s Agriculture, impacting the lives of millions of farmers across the 6 geopolitical zones of Nigeria. Nigeria’s government and international partners are already driving the country to food and nutrition security,” she said.
Gidado disclosed that such is the reason behind the government’s investments towards making cassava, one of the most consumed food crops in the country into a nutritional fill.
She said the Virca Plus Cassava Project which aims to develop a variety of the crop that is resistant to Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD) and Cassava Mosaic Disease (CMD) and nutritionally enhanced with iron and zinc, with a yield advantage of 80% is currently undergoing a confined field trial at the National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike.
“Retention and bio-accessibility studies performed on biofortified roots, gari and fufu, show that modified cassava can provide 40-50% EAR iron and 60-70% EAR zinc for 1-6-year-old children and West African women,” Gidado disclosed.
Speaking on the benefits of biotechnology on the agricultural value chain for food security, she said, “Biotechnology, with its vast array of tools and techniques, offers promising solutions for enhancing agricultural productivity and sustainability.”
She listed Genetic Engineering and GMOs, Gene Editing, Marker-Assisted Selection, Microbial Biotechnology, Biopesticides and Biofertilizersood as some products of technological advancements that have helped countries leapfrog their food and agricultural challenges.
The Pod Borer Resistant (PBR) Cowpea, TELA Maize, Bt Cotton are genetically modified crops developed by Nigerian scientists in collaboration with international partners that are currently serving the needs of farmers.
