Protect indigenous seeds, farmers’ rights, HOMEF tells FG on World Food Day

The Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), an environmental advocacy organisation, has called on the federal government to protect indigenous seeds and farmers’ rights, warning that industrial agricultural practices and restrictive seed policies could undermine food sovereignty, biodiversity, and nutrition.

The organisation made the call on Friday to mark World Food Day, observed annually on 16 October, arguing that hunger and malnutrition persist in resource-rich countries because of political and economic choices that disadvantage smallholder farmers and local food systems.

In a statement made available to PREMIUM TIMES by its Media and Communications Manager, Kome Odhomor, HOMEF said food security requires more than increasing agricultural output. It called for policies that protect local seed varieties, promote ecological farming and give farming communities greater control over what they grow and how they produce food.

The organisation also called on Nigerians to pay closer attention to the origins and nutritional quality of their food, warning that climate change, economic instability, and conflict continue to threaten food production and distribution.

Food sovereignty

Nnimmo Bassey, HOMEF’s executive director, said Nigeria’s food system was overly dependent on monoculture and cash-crop production, which he noted weakened food supply chains, depleted soil health and reduced farmers’ control over agricultural production.

“World Food Day should be a day of reflection. It must also be a day of structural reckoning,” Mr Bassey said, calling for a shift from industrial uniformity towards diverse and ecologically sustainable farming systems.

He said indigenous seeds are critical to adapting to climate change because they preserve genetic diversity that can support drought resistance, pest management, and improved nutrition.

“We must move beyond the short-sighted goal of ‘yield at any cost’ and support a transition to agroecology,” he said.

Agroecology applies ecological principles to agricultural production, emphasising soil health, biodiversity, local knowledge, and sustainable relationships between farming communities and their environment.

Mr Bassey said protecting indigenous seeds was essential to preventing biodiversity loss and sustaining ecosystems, arguing that food systems should not sacrifice environmental health for short-term production gains.

Seed laws, farmers’ rights

HOMEF’s Director of Programmes, Joyce Brown, said hunger in resource-rich African countries reflected failures in political and economic decision-making.

She said that food should not be treated merely as a commodity for profit but as a fundamental human right connected to public health, cultural identity and community livelihoods.

Ms Brown called on governments and international institutions to review policies that, she said, privilege industrial exporters over small-scale farmers who supply local communities.

She specifically raised concerns about Nigeria’s Plant Variety Protection Act, 2021, explaining that restrictions on farmers’ ability to save and reuse seeds could threaten the food and nutritional security of vulnerable communities.

The law provides a framework for protecting the rights of breeders of new plant varieties. The debate over its implementation includes questions about how breeders’ rights should be balanced with farmers’ traditional practices and access to seeds.

Ms Brown said agricultural policies should recognise farmers’ rights and ensure that communities closest to the land retain meaningful authority over what they grow and how they use their resources.

‘Industrial agriculture not the only solution’

Mariann Bassey-Olsson, deputy director of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, described seed-saving and exchange as essential to farmers’ independence and the preservation of cultural heritage.

She rejected the argument that industrial agriculture was the only viable way to feed the world, saying smallholder farmers had sustained communities for generations through locally adapted farming practices.

Ms Bassey-Olsson said indigenous seeds embodied generations of farmers’ knowledge and adaptation to local soils and climatic conditions.

She warned that losing control of local seed varieties could make farmers increasingly dependent on foreign corporations and weaken their ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions.

She also opposed genetically modified crops, saying it could threaten farmers’ seed rights and biodiversity and increase dependence on foreign companies.

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Her position reflects HOMEF’s call for increased investment in agroecology and locally controlled food systems, rather than approaches that put industrial agricultural interests at the centre of food production.

Food security, climate change

HOMEF said future food systems should prioritise nutritional quality, environmental sustainability and farmers’ livelihoods, rather than focus narrowly on increasing yields.

It called for better access to agricultural knowledge, tools and resources for smallholder farmers and marginalised communities, warning that climate change and other socioeconomic pressures could further destabilise food supplies.

The organisation also asked governments to support diverse local food systems that can withstand climate shocks while protecting biodiversity and improving soil health.

World Food Day is an annual international observance that raises awareness of hunger and food insecurity and promotes access to safe, nutritious, and affordable food.