Preamble

The Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), in collaboration with Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa, Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre, the GMO-Free Nigeria Alliance, and other partners, convened a National Conference on Biosafety and Agroecology on 8 June 2026 in Abuja.

The conference brought together government representatives from the Ministries of Agriculture and Food Security, Health and Social Welfare, Education; Standards Organisation of Nigeria; Agricultural Quarantine Service, National Agency for Foods Drug and Administration Control, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, farmers, researchers, civil society organisations, legal practitioners, youth groups, media practitioners, traditional institutions, and other critical stakeholders to examine the implications of the continued deployment of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Nigeria and assess agroecology as a viable pathway to sustainable, resilient, and inclusive food systems.

Participants reviewed the increasing approval and commercialization of GM crops in Nigeria, including Bt Cowpea, TELA Maize, and recently registered transgenic cotton varieties, against ongoing concerns about biosafety, environmental protection, farmers’ rights, public health, food sovereignty, ecological integrity, and regulatory accountability.

A participant speaks at the National Conference on Biosafety and Agroecology in Abuja

Observations

Participants observed that:

  • Nigeria’s food security challenges require holistic, people-centred, and sustainable solutions beyond technological interventions alone.
  • Concerns remain regarding biosafety, biodiversity loss, genetic contamination of indigenous seeds, monoculture farming, pesticide dependence, and insufficient long-term ecological studies.
  • Farmers’ rights to save, exchange, and improve seeds are under increasing pressure from proprietary seed systems, with implications for seed sovereignty, rural livelihoods, and local food systems.
  • Existing biosafety governance frameworks require greater transparency, accountability, independence, scientific rigour, and meaningful public participation.
  • Public health concerns related to GMOs and associated chemical inputs require independent long-term assessment, robust surveillance, and stronger monitoring systems.
  • Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs) continue to pose significant risks to human health, biodiversity, soil fertility, and water resources.
  • Food system governance must be inclusive, democratic, and ensure meaningful participation of farmers, women, youth, consumers, researchers, and civil society.
  • Agroecology has demonstrated considerable potential to improve soil health, biodiversity, climate resilience, farmer livelihoods, and sustainable food production.
  • Structural barriers continue to limit access to land, finance, information, technology, and decision-making, particularly for women and young people.
Participants follow proceedings at the conference

Resolutions

Participants resolved to:

  • Advocate for a comprehensive review of GMO approvals and biosafety governance mechanisms in Nigeria.
  • Promote transparency, public participation, and independent risk assessment in all biosafety decision-making processes.
  • Protect indigenous seed systems, farmers’ rights, and Nigeria’s rich agricultural biodiversity.
  • Advance a coordinated national agenda for sustainable, equitable, climate-resilient, and health-conscious agricultural development.
  • Strengthen public awareness and evidence-based engagement on the environmental, social, economic, and health implications of GMOs and associated agrochemical use.
  • Support research, documentation, innovation, and public education on agroecology and sustainable food systems.
  • Promote stronger market linkages, policy support, and institutional mechanisms for agroecological producers and consumers.
Participants with HOMEF publications at the conference

Key Demands to the Government

Participants call on the Government of Nigeria to:

  • Enforce a moratorium on all GMOs approvals and ensure no new approvals are made without independent, long term and peer reviewed assessment including feeding trials, performance trials as well as environmental and social impact assessment.
  • Undertake an independent, transparent, and science-based review of all GMO approvals, including Bt Cowpea, TELA Maize, and transgenic cotton varieties, to ensure compliance with the National Biosafety Management Act and the Precautionary Principle.
  • Restore and strengthen public agricultural research, extension service, and farmer support programmes across all levels.
  • Critically review the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) Act to address gaps including by ensuring greater transparency, accountability, and mandatory public disclosure of biosafety risk assessment data and decision-making processes.
  • Protect farmers’ rights to save, exchange, and reuse indigenous seeds, while supporting community seed banks, farmer-managed seed systems, and local breeding initiatives.
  • Apply the precautionary principle in biosafety decision-making and establish a clear roadmap for the timely phase-out of Highly Hazardous Pesticides.
  • Recognise agroecology as a strategic pillar of Nigeria’s agricultural transformation agenda and increase investment in agroecological research, training, innovation, and extension services.
  • Require independent long-term studies on the environmental, socioeconomic, and public health impacts of GMOs and associated chemical inputs.

Conclusion

Participants reaffirmed that ecological sustainability, food sovereignty, public accountability, social justice, human well-being, and the protection of present and future generations must guide Nigeria’s food and farming systems.

Participants further urge government institutions, policymakers, development partners, and relevant stakeholders to work collaboratively towards building a resilient, equitable, and sustainable food system that prioritise people, biodiversity, environmental integrity, and national food security.

Adopted in Abuja, Nigeria, on 8 June 2026.

Signed:

  • Health of Mother Earth Foundation HOMEF
  • Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa CAPPA
  • Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre
  • The GMO-Free Nigeria Alliance
  • Organic and Agroecology Initiative ORAIN
  • Environmental Rights Action
  • Women and Youth in Agriculture
  • Be the Help Foundation
  • Urban Rural Environmental Defenders
  • Nigeria Women Agro Allied Farmers Ass. (NIWAAFA)
  • Cassava Growers Association
  • Ecosteward Foundation
  • Cal-Maji Foundation