- Environmental group demands agroecology, protection of indigenous seeds, greater support for smallholder farmers
The Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) has called for urgent reforms of Nigeria’s food system, warning that industrial agriculture, restrictions on farmers’ access to indigenous seeds and inadequate support for agroecology are worsening food insecurity, undermining biodiversity and weakening the country’s resilience to climate change.
The environmental organisation said persistent hunger in a country endowed with abundant natural resources and agricultural potential reflected fundamental failures in political and economic priorities, stressing that food security could not be achieved by merely increasing agricultural production.
In a statement to mark World Food Day, HOMEF urged governments to tackle the structural causes of hunger and malnutrition, protect farmers’ rights, strengthen local food systems and guarantee smallholder farmers the freedom to save, exchange and replant indigenous seeds.
It warned that climate change, economic instability and conflicts continued to disrupt food production and distribution, exposing the weaknesses of agricultural systems that prioritise monoculture and industrial uniformity over biodiversity and locally adapted farming practices.
HOMEF Executive Director, Nnimmo Bassey, said World Food Day should provide an opportunity to confront the underlying problems of the food system rather than simply celebrate agricultural output.
“World Food Day should be a day of reflection. It must also be a day of structural reckoning,” Bassey said.
He criticised the growing dominance of monoculture and cash-crop production, arguing that the approach had weakened food supply chains, depleted soil vitality and reduced farmers’ control over what they grow and how they produce it.
According to him, addressing the food crisis requires a fundamental shift towards food sovereignty, ecological sustainability and farming systems that prioritise the nutritional needs of communities.
Bassey also urged Nigerians to pay greater attention to the sources and production methods of the food they consume, noting that the relationship between food security and climate resilience must be central to agricultural policy.
He described indigenous seeds as indispensable resources for adapting to changing climatic conditions, explaining that their genetic diversity could support drought tolerance, pest management and improved nutritional outcomes.
“We must move beyond the short-sighted goal of ‘yield at any cost’ and support a transition to agroecology,” he said.
The HOMEF director maintained that protecting indigenous seeds was not merely about preserving traditional agricultural practices but also about safeguarding the biological diversity required to sustain ecosystems and food production.
“We cannot have a healthy planet if we continue to destroy the very biological foundations that are our seeds, that allow life to persist,” he added.
HOMEF Director of Programmes, Joyce Brown, said the persistence of hunger across a resource-rich continent exposed the consequences of prevailing political and economic policies that failed to put people’s nutritional needs at the centre of development.
Brown argued that food should not be treated merely as a commodity for profit but recognised as a fundamental human necessity linked to public health, cultural identity and human rights.
She called on governments and international institutions to reconsider policies that favour industrial exporters and large-scale commercial interests at the expense of small-scale producers and local food systems.
“True food sovereignty means shifting the power dynamics of the food system,” she said, stressing the need to empower local producers to grow food that reflects the nutritional requirements and cultural preferences of their communities.
Brown further warned that restrictions on farmers’ access to and use of indigenous seeds could undermine nutritional security, particularly among vulnerable populations whose livelihoods depend on smallholder agriculture.
She specifically raised concerns about the Nigerian Plant Variety Protection Act, 2021, arguing that seed-related policies should safeguard farmers’ rights and preserve their ability to save and replant traditional varieties.
“We must ensure that our policies treat the right to food as a right to local sovereignty, ensuring that the people closest to the land have the authority to decide how it is used and what is grown upon it,” she said.
Also speaking, the Deputy Director of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), Mariann Bassey-Olsson, described seed-saving as an act of resistance, independence and cultural preservation.
She challenged the argument that industrial agriculture was the only viable approach to feeding the world, pointing to the contributions of smallholder farmers who have sustained communities and preserved agricultural knowledge across generations.
According to her, the preservation and exchange of indigenous seeds enable farmers to retain control over their agricultural resources while reducing dependence on corporate seed ownership and chemical-intensive production systems.
She explained that traditional seed varieties embody generations of adaptation to local soils, weather patterns and environmental conditions, making them valuable assets for resilient food production in the face of climate change.
“Food sovereignty begins and ends with the absolute freedom to save, exchange, and replant our own varieties. If we lose control of our seeds, we surrender our autonomy,” Bassey-Olsson said.
HOMEF called for increased investment in diverse local food systems and improved access to agricultural knowledge, finance and other essential resources for smallholder farmers and marginalised communities.
The organisation advocated a transition towards regenerative agricultural practices, particularly agroecology, which it said could improve soil health, conserve biodiversity, strengthen rural livelihoods and enhance the nutritional quality of food.
It also criticised what it described as false solutions to food insecurity, including genetic modification of crops, arguing that such approaches could threaten farmers’ control over seeds and deepen dependence on foreign corporations.
The organisation maintained that sustainable food systems should be assessed not only by the volume of crops produced but also by the nutritional quality of food, ecological sustainability, farmers’ economic wellbeing and communities’ ability to control their food resources.
World Food Day, observed annually on October 16, raises awareness of hunger and food security while promoting access to safe, nutritious and affordable food.
Against this backdrop, HOMEF stressed that securing the future of food in Nigeria would require policies that empower local farmers, protect agricultural biodiversity, strengthen community-based food systems and recognise adequate food as a fundamental human right.
The organisation said meaningful progress against hunger would depend on moving away from agricultural models that prioritise production volumes and corporate interests towards inclusive, locally driven and ecologically sustainable systems capable of delivering nutritious food while protecting the environment.
