Activists, Experts Urge Support For Small Holder Farmers Over Industrial Farming

By IBIRONKE ARIYO/ERICJAMES.OCHIGBO

SOME agricultural experts and environmental activists have recommended increased support for small holder farmers to attain food security in the country as against industrial farming.

They made the recommendation in Abuja on Wednesday while addressing newsmen on the sidelines of a stakeholders’ workshop on the Implications of Industrial Animal Farming in Nigeria.

The workshop, organised by Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), an ecological think tank advocacy organisation, became necessary following the recent entry of some global food companies into Nigeria.

The African Regional Director, World Animal Protection (WAP), Mr. Tennyson Williams, said that available records showed that industrial farmers emitted high level of carbon dioxide through their production systems which had implications for climate change.

Williams said that rather than embrace industrial farming, governments at all levels should prioritise support for small holder farmers who produce 70 per cent of food in the country to ensure food sovereignty.

“We want to raise these issues and also say that we have solutions to be considered; currently over 70 per cent of the food we consume are produced by small holder farmers.

“Why don’t we invest in them to be more self-reliant? We think it is possible, in essence, put food sovereignty in the hands of Nigerians with the right to make decisions on what they eat.

“Taking away massive size of land where wildlife exists in Nigeria can trade off the purported benefits industrial farming will offer, because where will those wild animals go?” the WAP director asked.

Also speaking, the Programme Manager at HOMEF, Mrs. Joyce Brown, emphasised the need for environmental impact assessment before allowing industrial farming.

She said that there was need to strengthen regulation of industrial animal farming, warning that unchecked expansion of the sector posed grave environmental, social and health risks.

“We talk about environmental sustainability, you find out that in most cases, social and environmental impact assessment are not adequately done before such projects are started.

“Some of the highlighted implications include public health when it comes to antibiotic resistance and general health implications from food that are produced using means that are not very healthy.

“The call is for Nigerians to be involved in such decision-making processes, for Nigerians to engage and pertinent questions to be asked and not just be in a hurry to solve food security but also consider implication of investments like this on Nigeria’s food sovereignty,” she said.

Also speaking, Mr. Mayowa Shobo, Programme Manager at HEDA Resource Centre, a nonprofit organisation, said that government should prioritise strengthening local food security and protection of small holder farmers.

He said that the presence of large companies posed significant threat to host communities as abuse in the cause of their operation was very common.

“It is a good thing that there is investment in this critical sector, Nigeria should not just stay within the realm of food security but do more in terms of food independence with less dependence on external parties.

“We are talking in favour of small holder farmers, supporting them rather than relinquishing their responsibility to international companies that almost do not have any stake in the country.

“The presence of these large companies increase the vulnerability of host communities to adapt to flooding and adverse effects of pesticides and in many cases, there are no reparations.

“On the long term, there is a lot of draw backs and that is what government should be looking at,’’ he said.

The Assistant Executive Director, Environmental Rights Action (ERA), Mrs. Marrian Bassey-Olsson, said that as stakeholders, they were not against investments.

She said that they were only concerned about the safety of Nigerians and their right to healthy food, environment and food sovereignty.

“We are asking as concerned Nigerians, with the coming of these companies, have you carried environmental impact assessment? Was it top-down or bottom-up approach? Which land are you going to use? We are also worried about the impact.

“We are concerned Nigerians asking the right questions. We are not anti-investments, we are trying to protect our people, our environment and our health, so we are asking for due process,” she said.

(NAN)