A Non Governmental Organization (NGO) known as Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) on Wednesday,25, January,2023 in PortHarcourt organized a training for media personnel with the theme “My Food is African”.
Speaking on the topic Food,Culture,Colonialism one of the facilitators, Nnimmo Bassey said
“Many times we think the food is neutral or something you put into your belly and go off.But food is more than that .Food is life, food is culture.
“People food system tell alot about them who the people are.When you loss your food and now dependent on food elsewhere, it means you have lost a whole lot.You lost your mind, you lost your culture.Your health system is exposed, threatened because for every region in the world nature has provided the right crops that would help maintain the right food also, that would help maintain health of the people, maintain their spirituality and their culture and everything around them .
“When you have to depend for food from elsewhere or food that is genetically engineered,then of course you are exposing yourself to great risk.You loss the capacity to withstand the challenges of health .
“Food is something that will keep you healthy ,is like medicine .Food is not only filling your stomach but healing your body .So the training is to remind us that for us to have a food that is respectful of our system and need, we have to engage in the right kind of agriculture that doesn’t depend on toxic ,posionous inputs .
“We have to understand that supporting our farming system help to empower our people economically .The whole challenge of climate change can to a large extent be solved by having an agriculture that depends on nature .
“Then you are not going to be burning fossil fuels,to release green house gases to the atmosphere .You are not going to kill the soil.Healthy soil absorbs alot of carbon ,so agroecology helps you to cool the planet .it is the sensible for the Government to invest in”.
Speaking on the topic Transition To Agroecology, another facilitator, Ikenna Ofoegbu said “Agroecology is very important for Nigeria because our farm system is facing a lot of challenges such as issues of climate change .Also facing a whole lot of rejection interms of agricultural food export.Alot of the food Nigeria produces and export are currently rejected in Western world largely because most of our foods are produced with inputs that are no longer acceptable such as highly hazardous pesticide .The whole world is shifting for demand for healthy food and this makes Agroecology very important.
“Agroecology is that farm system that works in tandem with nature.It is a farm system that does not do with the use of synthetic or chemical or chemical pesticides . Anything that will basically harm human or harm the environment is not welcomed within the Agroecology space..We are Looking for farm system where food can be produced in very friendly ways ,where the food will produce is not harming the farmers .
“Currently in Nigeria a whole lot of farms exposed to figures that come with highly hazardous pesticides .With Agroecology,Organic farm system where will are trying to produce food the way nature would have designed it,which is growing trees, multiple cropping within that system .Such system guarantee food sustainable and food security .
“With Agroecology we are not going to be worried with having chemicals that destroy our indigenous crop.With Agroecology we are talking of planting trees,mixed cropping system .
“Agroecology can do so much interms of job creation,restoring the environment and healthy food not just food for the sake of food but will are talking about healthy nutritious food that will help Nigeria to address alot of our health issues and incident.
“GMO is basically alteration about what is natural .When you are going towards use of GMO you are shifting outside nature and the effect on the health is unprecedented,it promotes monoculture which will encourage the use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers .
“It is also a threat to Nigeria sovereignty and economy as all the seeds and imports comes from outside country ,We need to apply caution”.
In her address, Jackie Ikeotuonye said “there are food created by God as captured in 1 Timothyl 4 vs 3.There are also good created by men and the challenges we are facing is the food created by men”.
She stated that corporation that promote genetic engineering steal nature harvest of diverse species.
She disclosed that heavily processed foods are often have high sugar,fat,empty calori and consumption of these foods has been long linked to increased risk of wide variety of health challenges.
Earlier,Joyce Brown noted that GMO does not have any advantage for healthy food consumption.
Highpoint of the training was division of participants into group to discuss the role of media in the transition to Agroecology/influencing change in consumption patterns.
EXTRA
Jackie Ikeotuonye:
Country Director at Bio Integrity & Natural Foods Awareness Initiative (BINFAI), Pastor, Business Woman and food safety activist. Over the year she has been dedicated to the struggle for a resilient food system and a resistance to GMOs in Nigeria
Ikenna-Donald Ofoegbu:
Sustainable Development, Climate Change, Agric & Energy Policy Analyst, Program Manager, Henrich Boll Foundation. Coordinates the Alliance for Action on Pesticides in Nigeria
Joyce Brown:
Food Sovereignty Activist, Programmes Manager and lead on Hunger Politics work at HOMEF. She coordinates the youth forum of the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA). Recently appointed as board member at AFSA.