#Nigeria... Agric Minister advocates use of biotech in Agriculture

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural
Development, Akinwumi Adesina, has called for
an accelerated pace in Africa's use of
biotechnology, through the institution of
appropriate biosafety regulations.
Mr. Adesina, who delivered the breakfast keynote
address during the ongoing World Food Prize
lecture series at the Marriott Hotel, Des Moines,
Iowa, USA, also said that feeding the world with
more nutritious food, while depending less on
chemicals was important.
"Through biotechnology, bio fortified crops such
as orange flesh, sweet potatoes, pro-vitamin A
cassava and drought tolerant maize now hold
great promise for feeding Africa," Mr. Adesina
said. "Africa must not miss out on the gene
revolution. Others must not make decisions for
us. We must make them ourselves. Africa should
accelerate the pace of use of biotechnology and
put in place appropriate bio safety regulations."
Mr. Adesina said he saw Africa becoming the
breadbasket for the world, saying "after all, 60
per cent of all the available uncultivated arable
land in the world is in Africa."
"There is a new energy and dynamism across
the continent. It can be seen in an emerging
middle class, improved governance, and a
heightened interest by foreign investors. But amid
this excitement, there remains a disturbing
paradox. Africa is a continent with enormous
potential for agricultural growth, yet one where
food insecurity and malnutrition are widespread
and persistent."
The minister said for millions of African farmers
to be successful, the continent must change the
lenses through which it viewed agriculture.
"For decades, Africa has looked at agriculture
through the wrong lenses, seeing agriculture as a
developmental program run by governments.
We see challenges, we see poverty, and we
devise solutions for managing poverty. Poverty
cannot be the comparative advantage of Africa.
We need to see the enormous opportunities and
rapidly unlock the potentials for creating wealth
through agriculture,' he said.
He noted that Agriculture was a business, not a
charitable developmental program and advocated
the engagement of the private sector in order to
unlock the continent's agribusiness potential. He
said that this would create opportunities for
millions of farmers to connect to markets, private
agribusinesses and add value to what they
produce, as well as propel them out of poverty
into wealth.
He underscored Nigeria's relegation of agriculture
to the background and over-dependence on oil as
the economic driver of growth, export income
and development, noting that it had bred
stagnation and government corruption.
"One tragic result of Nigeria's dependence on oil
was an abandonment of our nation's farmers;
and food processors; yields stagnated.
"The procurement of seeds and fertiliser was
tainted by government corruption; investments in
infrastructure were redirected; and rural
communities slid into poverty and
unemployment. We soon became a food-
importing country, spending an average of $11
billion (N1.7 trillion) a year on wheat, rice, sugar
and fish imports alone," he said.
Pointing out Nigeria's fundamental resources,
which include the abundance of land, water and
human capital, Mr. Adesina said that there was a
need for a major transformation of Nigeria's
agricultural sector, with a focus on creating eco-
systems in which small, medium and large-scale
farmers would not only co-exist, but also flourish
together.