Now that genetically modified (GMO) cowpea is on the market in Nigeria, consumers are having their chance to sample favorite foods made from beans.
Chairman of the All Farmers Association Of Nigeria (AFAN), Mr Otunba Oke Babafemi is full of praises for GM cowpea, which he sampled at a recent event held to raise GMO awareness in the West African country.
“I’ve tasted the akara GMO,” Babafemi exclaimed at the inaugural Eating is Believing event held recently in Ikeja, Lagos State, Nigeria. “It is nice, sweet and so delicious!”
The “Eating is Believing” campaign is an initiative of Nigeria’s National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) and the Foreign Agricultural Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The initiative seeks to increase consumption and boost the demand of GM cowpea, which uses Bt technology to provide natural protection against the destructive pod borer pest.
“The Lagos event was the first of its kind. We intend to do more to disabuse the minds of people thinking negatively as well as to disarm the anti-GM groups,” Dr Rose Gidado, the Deputy Director NABDA and Country Coordinator, Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB) in Africa, Nigeria Chapter, said.
So delighted was Babafemi after tasting the akara made with GMO cowpea that he now wants to serve this meal to Nigerian farmers at all their future conventions, ensuring that as many palates as possible partake in the savor. As an African proverb says, one who eats alone cannot discuss the taste of the food with others.
“Whatever the time we are having a meeting, we should always prepare that cowpea akara, at least for everybody to enjoy it,” he said, while exuding confidence that there will be greater acceptance and adoption of the cowpea among the country’s farmers.
The crop is already finding great acceptance among farmers, with demand for the seeds quickly outstripping supply. Farmers say they can make more money from the crop because they get better yields and use much less pesticide.
“We are going to plant it more in our states,” he said.
Akara is a popular dish in Nigeria and various other parts of West Africa, and its main ingredients are ground black-eyed peas or beans, pepper and onions. It is a common feature in many breakfast tables.
Nigeria officially released the GM cowpea in June 2021 under the PBR Cowpea Project, making this the first genetically modified food crop adopted in Africa outside of South Africa. The pod borer resistant cowpea variety, known as SAMPEA20-T, is engineered to protect itself from the insect pest Maruca vitrata, which causes up to 80 percent yield losses.
GM cowpea is expected to boost Nigeria’s food security while increasing farmers’ incomes and reducing the price of the popular food for consumers. AFAN, which comprises all 56 recognized commodity associations in Nigeria, projects that about eight million Nigerian farmers and their families will benefit directly from cultivating the pod borer resistant cowpea variety.
Ghana has also developed its own varieties of GM cowpea, and the government is currently deciding whether it should be made available to farmers.
OFAB Nigeria is keen to ensure that the country maximizes the full economic and environmental benefits embedded in the adoption of GM crops. Speaking at the inaugural EIB event, Dr Gidado stressed the importance of building consumer acceptance of the product, which has the same good taste and cooking characteristics as conventional cowpea.
“Imagine if the farmers that have adopted the crops have no buyers? They will end up being discouraged, despite the fact that the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) has certified that the crop is safe for human/animal health and to the environment too,” she explained.
So far, however, market acceptance of the crop has been good in Nigeria, with sellers reminding buyers that it is grown with little or no pesticides.
Also affirming the safety of the PBR cowpea, AFAN President Arc Kabir Ibrahim called on all the farmers to start farming the biotech beans. The President went on to share his personal testimonies in both planting and cooking the pod borer-resistant (PBR) cowpea.
“The PBR cowpea is a game changer. When it was launched in Kano State earlier this year, I also bought some quantity for myself and family to eat and to plant. When I planted, I observed that unlike the local cowpea varieties, this particular cowpea variety was not in any way infested by Maruca vitrata, the insect that destroys beans on the farm. In addition to the fact that I had no need to spray my farm with chemical spray that causes environmental pollution, the yield is fantastic”.
The AFAN President added that with the new variety, which is both insect-resistant and high-yielding, Nigeria would be able to make up for the short fall of 500,000 metric tons that is otherwise imported at the cost of 16 billion Naira annually. This way, Nigeria will conserve the much-needed foreign exchange, the President noted.
By Joseph Maina, a Journalist who writes on agricultural biotechnology, Nairobi, Kenya
a
