By Emma Elebeke

Assent to the food science and technology safety bill before the Presidency will reduce food poisoning and reposition Nigeria for global competitiveness.

This was the position of participants at the just concluded 37th annual international conference and annual general meeting, AGM of the Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology, NIFST held in Abuja last week.

Although, the food supply chain from farm to table in Nigeria is undergoing considerable positive transformations, the existing food safety practices in the production, processing, packaging, storage, transportation, distribution and marketing of food for local and international markets are from satisfactory and so requires urgent intervention of President by signing the Nigerian Council of Food Science and technology bill would enable farmers achieve world best practice in food processing  by applying the right science and technologies.

The programme entitled, ‘‘Food Safety: Critical Pathway to Sustainable Global Competitiveness and Public Health,’’ brought together food experts from the academia and different agencies to discuss on perennial challenges and safety issues posed by food borne diseases to Nigeria and to find solutions to them.

In his address, the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu said the theme of the conference was apt at this time when globalization and information technology has made the world a global village.

He said that food processing and handling is a major determinant of nutritional status of a given society.

And with malnutrition estimated to be contributing  over 50 per cent of mortality among children under five years in Nigeria, he emphasized the need for all stakeholders to collaborate in order to improve the quality of food processing in Nigeria, using modern science and technology.

In his own address, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Emeka Ihedioha said the National Assembly is committed to ensuring effective regulation and enforcement of high professional standards within the food processing and agricultural sectors the economy.

He said that Nigeria has the potentials to feed its citizens but lacks the enabling laws and technology know how to do so.

“A nation that cannot feed its populace is vulnerable to social crisis and insecurity and external manipulations. This is why the National Assembly is firmly in support of the efforts to move the country away from a mono-cultural economy and accord food and agricultural sector a renewed attention in the scheme of things”, he said.

According to him,  part of the efforts of the National Assembly to encourage the industry was demonstrated in the enactment of the law” that gave the existence of the NIFST a legal backing.

The Deputy Speaker, who is a fellow of the institute, also explained that National Assembly have continued to review existing legislations within the food and agricultural sector with a view to strengthen them and making the sector “attractive and viable.” Such legislation according to him includes National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC Act, among others.

He also pointed out that NIFST as a vital segment of the food and agricultural sector, “must” take adequate advantage of the transformation to establish their relevance in the economy.

Earlier in his welcome address, the NIFST President Professor Lateef Sanni said the Politicisation of governance is a major impediment to the institute in Nigeria.

He also said that the federal government’s inability to effectively control and eliminate food contaminants is creating an enormous economic loss to the country, adding that the manufacturing sector in the country lacks the enabling environment to operate and compete favourably at the global stage.

Prof. Sanni said the national potential for local and international food trade cannot be fully harnessed in Nigeria with the right technologies, if the existing poor food regulation is not addressed.

Sanni, who lamented the delay in the signing of NIFEST bill by the Presidency, said the signing of the bill by the President would bring unprecedented boost to the industry and compliment the ongoing transformation agenda of the president and urged the stakeholders to prevail on the Presidency to consider the bill on its merit.

He also pointed out that a lot of Nigerians had lost their lives due to food poisoning and wondered how regulators of food industry  such as NAFDAC could operate optimally without an enabling law from the government.

“Food safety is playing increasingly dominant role in governance globally in view of its impact on public health, agriculture, trade and investment, poverty, hunger and tourism.

‘‘The best opportunity for food companies is that, if there is enabling environment, it is going to create a kind of development, increase the number of food companies in the country, who will need food raw materials to produce their finished goods.’’

On government approach to value addition, the NIFEST boss said ‘‘since early 2000, we concentrated much on food production. It is just seven years ago that we started adding value added and up till the investment there is very low. It is very bad for government to spend money on varieties, stems and grains but very low to give loans or support to value addition industry, the manufacturing sector.  Up till now, the lethargy is still very high. Though, there has been an improvement in value addition, linking it to agriculture, but government need to do more and development partners also need to do more.

‘‘With that bill, we are going to saturate both the local and regional market. The enabling environments we are talking about involve power and good roads,” he said.

According to the NIFEST boss, the enforcement of relevant existing food safety laws and regulations are not properly coordinated between various agencies of the government and between the three tiers of government and this is affecting the economy.

The cases of food borne illnesses keep increasing in the country because the government is lax on food regulation and monitoring, he said.

He however, pointed that Nigeria is expected to fulfill its obligation by ensuring the safety of its foods and food products to international consumers is guaranteed in line with agreed protocols of the United Nation’s conventions and declarations.

NIFEST is the only registered Non-Profit making body representing food professionals drawn from the academia, industry, government and research institutes in Nigeria.