Nigeria and other African countries have been as a matter of urgency asked to embark on the use of modern technologies to mitigate the impact of COVID 19 pandemic disease against human hunger towards food security and employment generation.
This was one of the high point positions taken yesterday at the webinar series co-organised by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) and Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB), Nigeria chapter.
The theme of the virtual conference is ’’ Technological interventions in Mitigation the Impact of Covid 19 on Nigeria’s Food Security’’
All the scientists including the Minister of Agriculture, Alhaji Sabo Nanono in view of covid 19 impact and climate change vagaries posited that biotechnology engineering should be deplored to enhance agricultural productivity towards enhanced food security to checkmate hunger where millions of people sleep without food.
In his speech, the Director General (DG), Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) Prof. Yemi Adebamijo pointed that Nigeria is expected to play a lead role in using available biotechnology to confront covid 19 from making people to go to bed without food adding that ‘’ Nigeria will be a litmus test of success or failure of covid 19 by not allowing people to go hungry’’ with the use of improved technologies.
He advocated for strengthening the capacity of biotechnology institutions in the country, promised that his organization would assist in building science capacity in Nigeria towards ensuring planting of improved seeds with tussle culture and hydroponics technologies to enhance food productivity in view of imminent population growth and covid 19 impacts.
The FARA DG was optimistic that the greatest opportunity in biotechnologies investment in agricultural productivity would lead to job creation to many people who had lost their jobs in other professions to Covid 19 impacts saying that ‘’ when jobs are lost in teaching, jobs will be found in Agriculture with the use of biotechnology’’
Speaking on the conference topic, the representative of Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), a biotechnologist Dr. Abdulrasaq Ibrahim pointed that 800 million people went to bed without food saying there is need to embrace more science technologies application in driving increased agricultural productivity to checkmate hunger occasioned by climate change and corona virus pandemic.
He added that no country of the world is doing well in agriculture without science technologies adoptions, saying that covid 19 impacts has disrupted food system in terms of supply and demand as people cannot go to farms leading to postharvest loses and panic buying with imbalance in food prices cum disruption in the researches going on the fields and laboratories.
He stressed the need to create coping mechanism for Covid 19 pandemic in view of 2.9 million people being food insecured, saying adoption of improved technologies to fast tracking mitigation of food shortages and storability would be very necessary just as the strengthening of food supply system, trade and labour markets were inevitable.
Prof. Ibrahim pointed also the need for intensive research with planning that would enhance agricultural productivity with rich nutrition food for the most vulnerable people stressed that no nation can progress without taking agriculture very serious in terms of science technologies application and intensive investment in research.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Agriculture, Alhaji Nanono in his keynote reiterated negative impact of covid-19 on the World food supply chains inclusive Nigeria, saying the Government of President Mohammadu Buhari has been very responsive to tackling the challenges with food reliefs to vulnerable people with supply of seeds and fertilizers to farmers in order to embark on food production as he stressed the need for more intensive biotechnology engineering technologies towards higher productivity to checkmate Covid 19 impact.
Nanono said that about five million farmers would be tested for covid 19 to ascertain the state of their health through a homemade diagnostic kit saying that biotechnology plays an important role in solving agricultural problems.
Alhaji Nanono promised continuous support to the sector through improved industrial research system and infrastructural facilities provision that would enhance productivity saying that directive has been given towards comprehensive appraisal in Nigeria with a view of enhancing the performance of the research Institutes.
The minister added that ‘’ technology is critical in today’s world, and its relevance in agriculture is all the more crucial in preventing farmers crop losses, diseases and hence, market excess, and the achievement of appropriate pricing for farms inputs, services and produce’’
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