‘Stakeholders already working towards an Act for organic farming practice ... as an executive bill’

The Country Coordinator, Ecological Organic Agriculture initiative in Nigeria (EOA) Dr. Olugbenga Adeoluwa has disclosed in an interview with Food Farm News that efforts have commenced towards forwarding a bill for an Act to the National Assembly and that the bill would preferably be sent as an executive bill through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD). Excerpts...

Could you introduce yourself sir?

I am Dr. Olugbengba Adeoluwa, the Country Coordinator of Ecological Organic Agriculture Initiative in Nigeria (EOA).

What do you think is very necessary for the effective operation of organic farming as regards conformity to practise?

The major step is to put in place an organic agricultural bill that will be enacted into an Act for effective regulation of the sub sector. Already practitioners and stakeholders have started working towards presenting that through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural development as an executive bill. We have begun preparation since 2016 as stakeholders meeting in Abuja where it was agreed that a bill be presented. After Abuja, we have read the contents of what to be presented in Awka and Lagos, and it will still be presented again here. We belief that when an Act is put in place, then every other aspects of the organic agriculture in the country will be well addressed and that is 

why putting up a bill is very essential by the stakeholders which we are already working on.

How soon the bill would come up?

Currently in the country, the organic farming structure does not have the fund to drive the bill but we are hoping to seek executive assistance through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to present the bill as executive bill for easy passage at the National Assembly.

Then what power will the national organic task force use to execute its term of reference without an Act?

Well, the task force for now will be using private sector bye law to ensure sanity and standard in the organic practice within the private sector especially among the major registered practitioners, but not until we have an Act through a bill that their services can be extended to the public sector. As the organic farming is strongly driven by the private sector, for now,  what this national task force can do is to reinforce private sector bye laws that will be used to compel compliance and anybody that is found not complying with the organic practice system must be ready to pay the price as their names will be published on the website for consumers and other stakeholders to know those that are complying and those that are not.