The Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Mojisola Adeyeye, has blamed some food safety challenges in Nigeria on poor understanding of pesticide instructions and the responsibilities of regulatory agencies. Speaking on BusinessDay TV, Adeyeye said many Nigerians do not read or understand instructions on agricultural chemicals.
Adeyeye explained that food safety regulation involves several government agencies, with NAFDAC primarily responsible for processed and semi-processed foods, while the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security oversees fresh agricultural produce. She added that NAFDAC regulates pesticides and therefore works with the ministry to educate farmers on proper application, including quantities, timing and the required interval between treatment and harvest.
The NAFDAC boss said some farmers mistakenly believe that using larger quantities of pesticides produces better results, while literacy challenges can make product labels difficult to understand. She stressed that NAFDAC cannot independently train all the country’s farmers and maintained that the Ministry of Agriculture should take the lead in educating farmers, while NAFDAC continues to support the effort because of its responsibility for regulating pesticides.
