Food safety expert has warned that Nigeria’s food sovereignty is seriously threatened as multinational corporations tighten their grip on the seed sector through patenting and intellectual property rights.
In an exclusive interview with LEADERSHIP, Prof Qrisstuberg Amua, the executive director of the Centre for Food Safety and Agricultural Research (CEFSAR), pointed out several foreign companies are leveraging intellectual property laws to dominate global and Nigeria’s seed markets.
This trend, he argued, would limit seed diversity, driving up prices and restricting farmers’ rights to save and replant seeds while eroding their fundamental practice in traditional farming.
Referencing one of the most notable legal precedents, Bowman v. Monsanto, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that farmers who replant patented GMO seeds without repurchasing them each season violate intellectual property laws.
According to Professor Amua, this decision has reinforced corporate control over seeds where it would be difficult for smallholder farmers to maintain autonomy over their crops.
Prof Amua further warned that Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) seeds are becoming an economic ‘Trojan Horse’ disguised as solutions to food security. In reality, they serve as instruments of corporate dominance.
Although proponents maintained that GMOs enhance crop yields and reduce pesticide dependency, the professor noted that real-world experiences in countries like India and Argentina paint a different picture.
“The metaphor of the Trojan Horse is apt in describing GMOs’ economic and political risks. GMOs have been revealed as a tool for corporate exploitation and control.
In countries such as India, where Bt cotton was once celebrated as a success story, farmers are now trapped in cycles of debt due to the high cost of GMO seeds and related agricultural inputs.”
Professor Amua told LEADERSHIP that Argentina’s case highlights the economic drain caused by adopting GMO soybeans—vast sums of national capital flow to foreign biotech firms rather than being reinvested in local economies.
He continued, “As multinational corporations consolidate control over seeds through intellectual property regimes, smallholder farmers who constitute most of Nigeria’s agricultural workforce are particularly vulnerable.
In this context, adopting GMOs represents a threat not only to Nigeria’s food sovereignty but also to its broader socio-economic fabric.”
“Farmers will increasingly depend on expensive inputs from global seed companies while losing the ability to cultivate and save traditional seed varieties.
“The issue at stake is not just about food production but about who controls the foundation of our food system. If we do not act now, we risk handing over our agricultural future to a handful of powerful corporations”, he added.
To safeguard Nigeria’s agricultural future, Prof Amua called for more assertive policies that protect local farmers from exploitative seed patenting practices.
He urged the government to promote seed sovereignty by investing in research, supporting traditional seed systems, and resisting external pressure to fully embrace GMO-based agriculture.
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