By Ebuka Obidinnma
Stakeholders of Organic and Agroecology Initiative (ORAIN), a coalition of organic and agroecology organisations say Nigeria is still among the least organised countries in the African organic agriculture sector.
They said this on Thursday in a zoom event on Upscaling Organic and Agroecological practices in Nigeria series, May 2024 Edition organised by ORAIN.
The stakeholders called on all to embrace organic and agroecological farming practices to enhance food and nutrition security in the country.
Prof. Olugbenga AdeOluwa, the Coordinator of ORAIN said that Nigeria needs to upscale its organic and agroecology practices to bring the country at the forefront of having a safe food and environment.
AdeOluwa also added that there is a need to improve local development for export business in organic agriculture to improve the country’s GDP.
He said that ORAIN through its annual National Organic and Agroecology Business Summit (NOABS) is one of the ways of promoting organic and agroecology development in the country in a public-private way.
Capacity building of strategic practitioners in the organic agricultural sector of Nigeria is needed to contribute to food security, income generation, employment, systems resilience, among others”, he said.
He said that the objectives of NOABS are to ensure widespread benefits of organic agriculture to all stakeholders of organic and agroecology sector in the country.
This will catalyse development of sustainable organic and agroecology business in Nigeria, provide a national platform, create job opportunities and improve the livelihood of stakeholders’’.
He, therefore, called on media organisations to support the organic and agroecology efforts through adequate media sensitization, and also called for a sustainable policy to enhance organic and agroecology farming in the country.
Mrs Joyce Brown, Programme Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), said that the coalition was promoting agroecology to protect the environment as well as Mother Earth, and achieve food security.
Brown said that agroecological practice is one of the keys to achieving food security in Nigeria, and of course food sovereignty, which is even more all-encompassing, than food security.
Another reason for promoting organic and agroecological practices is due to the understanding that industrial agriculture is not healthy, therefore, government should aggressively sensitise the masses on the economic importance of organic and agroecology farming.
Other methods of farming destroy the ecosystem and the introduction of GMOs also will lead to loss of biodiversity even as climate change contributes its own impact to the agriculture food system,” she said.
Brown said that the change in the type of diet and food that people consume is also another reason to practice organic farming.
Ms Rebecca Osewa, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Yield Initiatives (UK), also speaking said that that the Initiative’s mission is to promote organic practices as well as its benefits to farmers and Nigerians.
The mission is to revive the cotton textile industry in Nigeria and contribute to a more prosperous Africa.
Focusing on mindset and behavioral change, Yield Initiatives aim to regenerate ecosystems, leading to social regeneration and improve the living standards of cotton growers in Nigeria.
“This is expected to revive the almost moribund cotton textile garment industry in the country as Nigerian cotton farmers are in desperate need of better cotton seeds.
With better seeds, yields will increase and standards of living will also increase”, she added.
