Health of Mother Earth Foundation, others reject GM cassava by IITA

Health of Mother Earth Foundation and 87 other civil society groups have rejected a plan by the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) to grow genetically-modified cassava in Nigeria.


The civil society groups which disclosed this in a statement recently expressed worry that in spite of objections an application for the actualisation of ‘confined’ field trial of transgenic cassava had been submitted to the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA).

They averred that the trials would involve using genetically-modified cassava under a new gene- silencing technology that had never been tested in the country. The groups claimed that the plan is to “obtain storage roots with lower post-harvest physiological degradation without any loss of the nutritious starch.”

Speaking on the plan, Joyce Okeoghene, HOMEF Biosafety Project Manager, said even as the IITA admitted that such approval had never been given anywhere in the world, the Institute collaborated with ETHZ laboratories in Zurich, Switzerland, to carry out the field trial in Nigeria.

Also speaking, Ninmmo Bassey, HOMEF Director, said the adoption would take total control of Nigeria’s food system by moving rapidly on the genetically-modified organisms (GMO) highway. He listed the GMOs being canvassed in Nigeria to include beans, maize and cotton. Bassey lamented that the IITA, which farmers depend on for good quality and safe crops, could push for the GMOs.


He said the plan portends danger for Nigerian and African agriculture, adding that it would unwittingly exploit millions of Africans as human guinea pigs due to the latest genetic engineering experiment.

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