Human Nutritive Health, Food Security and Animal Production: Issues and Concerns for Genetically Engineered Organisms and Technological Innovations

Abstract

Genetically modified foods (GMFs) – products whose original DNA structures have been changed – came to the forefront when a single U.S. Supreme Court Ruling in 1980 allowed for the first time the patenting of life forms for commercialization and; since then, GM yields have continued to geometrically increase every year encouraging planting to at least more than 175 million hectares of GM varieties worldwide in spite of the persistent health and environmental controversies on GMOs/GMFs. Sustainable agriculture (SA) leads to sufficient healthy food, healthy environment, wealth, and long life. Nigeria has arable land and the population that can be mobilized to produce sufficient food for local consumption and export. Yet, in spite of numerous public agricultural policies, strategies, projects and programmes aimed at boosting agricultural production for the attainment of food security in the past consecutive five decades, Nigeria has woefully failed to attain food security. Consequently, seven (7) out of ten (10) Nigerians remain food insecure. Using the literature review method, this study examines human nutritive health, food security, and animal production: issues and concerns for genetically engineered organisms and technological innovations, with a view to appropriate sustainable food security, crop production technology for Nigeria towards attaining food security, vis-à-vis their inherent environmental sustainability challenges. Results show that food security, improved animal production and sustainable agriculture evolve, requiring trend of mechanized agricultural production, innovation, storage system and preservation of agricultural products, which remain alien to Nigerian agricultural system and practice. Therefore, in enhancing animal production, agri-production economy and solving global food and protein insecurity, animal production and food security improvements that may not rely heavily on machines is the way to go.