For Nigeria to drive food security, experts have called on farmers to boost the cultivation organic crops to ensure Nigerians consume wholesome and healthy food.
The experts say that the country is currently facing food security challenges such as land degradation, droughts and changing climate pattern.
They noted that the food security challenges can be tackled through agroecology that offers holistic and sustainable approach to agriculture while calling on farmers to diversify their production.
The experts made the call at a two-day event of the Association of Organic Agriculture Practitioners of Nigeria (NOAN) themed, ‘Innovative Organic Food System for National Development’, held recently in Lagos.
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“We have many organic farmers growing the same crops. We cannot drive biodiversity this way,” said Isaac Aiyelaagbe, professor of horticulture at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB).
“If we are going to reposition organic agriculture, we need to diversify the crops we plant. There are other crops aside from cassava and tomatoes that farmers can focus on; crops with nutritious benefits,” he added.
Aiyelaagbe stressed the need for organic farmers to go into livestock farming, noting that not many farmers engage in organic livestock rearing.
According to him, with more investors putting their money in the system, organic farming could drive national development and aid in the country’s vision of food security.
“If more people put their money into organic agriculture, I know the story will change.”
“National development is all that we dream about — it includes livelihoods for everyone, irrespective of their status in the nation. It’s about food, shelter, health, security, and the assurance of a better tomorrow.”
Tony Akinyemi, a certified health coach, reiterated that organic agriculture held the power to ensure that Nigerians lived healthier lives, however, he noted that farmers needed to cultivate a wider variety of crops on farms.
“The power of food as medicine is no longer up for debate, and food can undoubtedly offer many benefits. The foods that we supply, with their numerous health benefits, must be pure, uncontaminated, chemical-free — no pesticides, no herbicides,” he said.
“Therefore, we need to start cultivating other staple crops. We cannot keep planting what everyone plants.”
Akinyemi said that to live disease-free lives, Nigerians must be ready to eat foods in their God created forms without adding things that, according to him, pose a risk to their health.
“In my view, real food is food that still retains its ability to deliver all the benefits intended by the Creator, the Almighty God, and that is through organic agriculture.”
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He revealed that a health-conscious country will pay attention to what it eats. “Let us begin to eat our food like medicine and our medicine like our food.”
A representative from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture revealed that the ministry is working on launching an organic agricultural policy that will ensure that organic agriculture is practised the right way in Africa’s most populous nation.
“This organic agricultural policy is going to reposition organic in Nigeria in such a way that organic agriculture will be a value chain with the federal ministry of agriculture.”
The two-day organic event brought together farmers and agripreneurs from across the country.
