By Gabriel Ewepu

ABUJA – AS non-communicable diseases take toll on Nigerians, the Federal Government and stakeholders have expressed concerns by urging farmers and investors to embrace organic farming.

Speaking during the opening ceremony of the 9th National Organic and Agroecology Business Summit, NOABS, with the theme ‘Upscaling Common Market Platforms for Organic and Agroecological Products and Produce in Nigeria’, organised by Organic Agroecology Initiative of Nigeria, ORAIN, in conjunction with other partners, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Dr Marcus Ogunbiyi, in his remarks said Nigerian farmers are to embrace and sustain organic farming.

Represented by one of the officials at the Ministry, Williams Ekpe, Ogunbiyi also disclosed that the Ministry has made organic and agro-ecological principles a top priority in its policies and programmes.

Meanwhile, the two-day 2025 NOABS edition had in attendance government ministries, agencies, farmers, researchers, academia, investors, exhibitors, youth, and the media.

He said: “Let’s make sure our smallholder farmers along with women and young people stay at the heart of these efforts right where real change begins. In the soil beneath their hands, representing the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, I am proud to reinstate our firm commitment to programme and ensure a safe food system, restore healthy soil and strengthen lasting livelihoods right down to the farms where fresh air still smells new after rain.

“The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has made it a priority to mainstream organic and agro-ecological principles into national agricultural policies and programmes.

“By actively partnering with the respective governments, departments, academic institutions and farmer organizations, we are facilitating a robust policy framework, quality assurance mechanisms and strengthening capacity of stakeholders involved in regulation as well as production of organic products.

“We know that modern agriculture is not only about productivity but also about sustainability, inclusiveness and innovation.

“Therefore, this summit gives stakeholders a rare chance to share ideas, build strong partnerships and map out clear next steps to grow the organic and agro-ecological value chain from farm fields to food processing and market share.

“As we celebrate this Summit, I urge everyone to zero in on practical ways to expand organic farming and agro-ecological practices across Nigeria.”

Meanwhile, in a keynote address, the Mandate Secretary, Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat, Com. Abdulllahi Ango, represented by Mustapha Mohammed, stated that the best food production practice is the organic and agroecology approach, therefore, farmers need to accept the practice for high profitability and dignity.

The Chairman Board of Trustees, ORAIN, and Founder Gotomo Farms, Abubakar Gotomo, on the sidelines of the Summit, speaking on the essence of the Summit through ORAIN pushes hard to ensure organic farming is widely adopted by farmers to produce healthy food for Nigerians and also protect the environment.

“We are promoting organic farming and ecological farming in order to protect our environment. We are into this after realizing the threat and the rapid degradation of our soil and the farmland as a result of excessive use of chemicals, chemical fertilizer and other pesticides.

“So the excessive use of chemical inputs into agricultural practices is gradually degrading our farmlands, which is a very, very serious threat to food security. So to safeguard that, we come up to ensure that our farmers are mobilized, our government is encouraged to embrace organic practice and respect agroecology.

“Agroecology is to respect the nature, the ecosystem, each variable in the ecosystem is playing a key role in safeguarding the environment, may it be insects because there are useful insects. The trees are there that are helping us to get our oxygen that we are breathing”, Gotomo stated.

He also emphasized that the government should come up with institutional framework to ensure guarantee of the practice of organic and agroecology practices in the food systems in Nigeria.

Also, the National Coordinator, ORAIN, Prof Olugbenga Adeoluwa, explained that the essence of the 2025 NOABS is to create a synergy between government organizations and the private sector to entrench organic and agroecology practices in food production, processing including preservation of he environment in order to safeguard the lives of Nigerians.

“We are here to mark the 2025 edition of what we call National Organic and Agroecology Business Summit, NOABS, which is a platform for networking and collaboration in organic and agroecological businesses in the country, and the system we are talking about, we are talking about the issue of marketing of organic and agroecological produce and products in the country, which is a form or it is intended to increase the potential of the sector in the country.

“For quite some time, many stakeholders in the sector, farmers, producers, and those within the value chain, they have been encouraged to do more.

“We are not just looking at agriculture, we are looking at it also from the perspective of health, from the perspective of trade, from the perspective of tourism, from the perspective of environment, from the perspective of women issues, from the perspective of both domestic and international export trade in different dimensions because organic and agroecology are not just issues of agriculture.

“It is only in respect to that agroecology will ensure the safety of our environment, the increased productivity of food, which is safe, healthy and good to the human existence, and through this practice, we are so certain that food security will be achieved”, Adeoluwa said.