Dangers of accepting GMOs in food production

An agriculture economist, Dr Thaddeaus Thompson has warned against accepting food production and preservation using genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the agriculture sector.

Thompson made the assertion while considering the food politics played by some agriculture multinationals that are seriously luring some African countries to accept genetically modified (GM) seeds for food production and preservation in order to make huge financial gains at the expense of the health and environment of the people.

He particularly cautioned the Nigerian government to consider the gray facts left out in the GM seeds offered by agriculture giants from America and Europe before making any decision to accept it or not, noting that Nigeria lacks the finance and technology to handle the negative side of GM seeds.

According to him, “A decision to accept GMO in Nigeria will be a huge mistake, especially at a time when most citizens in developed countries are rejecting them and turning back to the natural way of food production. The consequences of GMO outweigh its benefits and undeniably raises the concerns that it could harm humans. Given that some GM foods are modified using bacteria and viruses, it is advisable for the Nigerian government not to undermine the concerns that new diseases could emerge and create a health cost that the country cannot handle.

“Developed countries are financially and technologically better prepared to manage a health risk that develops from GMOs than Nigeria could afford. Because genetically modified food production is more focused on financial gains rather than feeding populations, the government must exercise caution engaging in any contractual deal with the big biotech companies which interest is making money. What Nigeria lacks is excessive technology and not excessive food. Biotech companies make the most gain and not the local farmers. A lot of misleading information has clouded research, leaving gray areas around the GMO conversation.”

“GMO technology was designed for mass production of food and would be necessary for countries in famine, which Nigeria is not, and the government should not think of that option to meet the people’s food demands as there are better and environment friendly food production and preservation technologies that could be adopted for mass food production for the teeming population. (Leadership)

GMOs, GM or GE foods are defined as follows:

A GMO (genetically modified organism ) is the result of a laboratory process where genes from the DNA of one species are extracted and artificially forced into the genes of an unrelated plant or animal. The foreign genes may come from bacteria, viruses, insects, animals or even humans.

Genetically modified foods or GM foods, also genetically engineered foods, are foods produced from organisms that have had changes introduced into their DNA using the methods of genetic engineering . Genetic engineering techniques allow for the introduction of new traits as well as greater control over traits than previous methods such as selective breeding and mutation breeding.

Read: Organic farming and benefits of organic foods
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