Jude Obi: Invest in organic agriculture now for healthier Nigeria, premium price- expert charges Akwa Ibom farmers
A specialist in soil science and land resources management, Dr. Jude Obi, has charged stakeholders in Nigeria, particularly in Akwa Ibom State, to invest heavily in organic agriculture to feed the country with healthy food and get a premium price for their investment.
Dr. Jude Obi, who is the National President of the Association of Organic Agriculture Practitioners of Nigeria, NOAN, gave the charge in Uyo during the general meeting of the Akwa Ibom State Chapter of the Association on Thursday, 18th August 2022.
Dr. Jude Obi, a lecturer in the Department of Soil Science, University of Uyo, posited that organic agriculture benefits citizens by providing greater nutrition, antioxidant content, enhanced heart health, better taste, and the development of a strong immune system.
He expressed the need for Nigeria to redouble her efforts in growing nourishing, disease-fighting foods to tackle increasing hunger in the society.
Dr Jude Obi, who is also the Coordinator for the Knowledge Centre for Organic Agriculture, KCOA, reasoned that human beings have experienced unusual illnesses that are directly related to traditional agricultural methods, hence it becomes imperative to practice agriculture with safety and health as a top priority.
He warned against clear repercussions associated with a number of synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, insecticides, pesticides, and finally genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, constantly rising as a result of the Sustainable Development Goals.
He maintained that those who invest in organic agriculture in Nigeria today would reap greatly from its premium pricing or “image pricing” potential, occasioned by the high costs and demands for products and services given the quality and experience connected to organic agriculture.
While lamenting that the quality of food in Nigeria has been compromised because of the degraded environmental condition of the conventional production system and other practices, Dr. Jude Obi pointed out that organic agriculture techniques and production systems have come to the rescue and urged Akwa Ibom farmers to take advantage of the initiative by going organic.
The Don tasked the farmers to be organised to benefit maximally from the initiative by forming themselves into formidable cooperative societies.
He insisted that Nigeria must remain organic in order to save the environment for present and future generations as well as the health of the land, plants, animals, and people.
While highlighting opportunities in organic farming, Dr Jude Obi enjoined members of Akwa Ibom State Chapter of Organic Practitioners of Nigeria to practice organic farming by operating within the value chain including cultivation, production, processing, research, advocacy, and marketing.
Although he admitted land plays a crucial role in farming, the soil science and land resources management expert warned against the erroneous mentality that tractorisation and large-scale farming are the key to food sufficiency and urged the people to utilise every available space in organic agriculture.
According to Dr Jude Obi, the traditional system was touted as the sole alternative to secure and sustainable food production, but it was not anticipated how detrimental it would be to both the environment and human health, regretting that the usual approach was packaged, made popular, and extensively embraced either due to the information that was accessible at the time or for egotistical capitalist ends.
He challenged government at all levels, corporate bodies, and public-spirited individuals to join the developed countries, which said have made enormous progress through the extensive use of conventional methods that worsened the world’s climatic circumstances, by returning to healthy farming as organic agriculture.
“Get prepared, get organised, practise organic organic agriculture, become business-minded, get a premium price and be satisfied. We must be organised,” he charged.
He also harped on the need for organic farmers to get their farms certified to give their products credibility, acceptability, and premium price.
