Therefore, a farmer should be vast with the basic knowledge of food production and its business in order to produce safe, nutritious and healthy food and also ensure that food reaches the markets at the right time. This is the ideal, however, the reality is different in the developing countries, where people come into farming with little or no basic knowledge, adopting trial by error approaches and indulging in all sorts of unhealthy farming practices, thereby increasing production of unsafe food and destroying the environment for economic benefits. This practice – where anybody can start producing food for the populace, without any competence vetting process - should no longer be encouraged. We need a new way of thinking about how new farmers can be incorporated into the food system and how production and productivity can be improved without compromising food safety.

At the community level, we need to develop a vetting system where aspiring farmers have a basic knowledge of production. This can be done through existing agricultural vocational skills centres, where farmers can be mandated to go through a series of practical training within 3-6 months duration to properly indoctrinate them on good agricultural and marketing practices expected from them. Furthermore, we need to put strict measures in place against farmers who intentionally produce unsafe food through sharp practices and distribute across the markets. These measures could range from paying fines to imprisonment depending on the gravity of the offences as related to public safety. In addition, we need to promote traceability in our food system, at least to the village level, then in future to the farm level. Without a system that can track food to the producers, it would be difficult to identify erring farmers.

In conclusion, we need more stakeholders to support initiatives that promote traceability and capacity development through mentorship. Our food should be our medicine and our farmers should be equipped with the right skills to know how best to achieve it. Thus, farming should be a profession of the nobles; who have the appropriate knowledge, have the heart of the people in mind and produce food with utmost integrity and right conscience. We need to take action NOW.

Yours-in-Service

Babatunde