Lagos govt gives one year agric scorecard, projections

The Lagos State Government has reiterated its commitment to the creation of six additional Central Food Systems and Logistics hubs in the state.

These are to be located in Ketu, Ereyun, Epe, Agege, Opebi, and Ikorodu to ensure food security for residents in the state.

Supreme News reports that the first market hub was commissioned at Mushin, Idi-Oro, on Dec. 18, 2023.

The Commissioner for Agriculture, Mrs. Abisola Olusanya, disclosed the state’s plans on Tuesday during the 2024 Ministerial Press Briefing at Alausa, Ikeja, to mark the first year of Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s second term in office.

She also said the government was committed to achieving the aims of its development of a five-year Agricultural and Food Systems Roadmap (2021-2025) as well as the Food Security Systems Policy Document.

Olusanya said that the state government trained 51,676 Lagos residents in agripreneurship skills across all departments, agencies, projects, and value chains of interest.

She reeled out some other achievements of the Gov. Sanwo-Olu-led administration.

“Over 2,713 traders and butchers from major markets across the state participated in various capacity-building programmes.

“The overarching goal of the training is to entrench good practices, proper food storage and presentation and promote the hub,” she said

She recalled the Lagos Market Trader Money where the sum of N50,000 was given to 15,000 market men and women to augment their buying power.

“It aimed to increase their capital base, enhance profit and improve livelihoods.

“The beneficiaries were selected in collaboration with the 57 LGA/LCDA chairmen and market masters, as 250 beneficiaries were selected from each LGA/LCDA.

” Seven hundred and fifty beneficiaries from barracks (Military, Air Force, Naval, and Police) across the state were among those identified,” she said.

Olusanya said that the state government introduced the Agri-thon, which is an innovative platform.

The commissioner said that the platform blends young business owners and technologists to formulate and render the Lagos food systems concepts that embody the future of agriculture.

“AgriThon serves as a blithesome, explorative platform nurturing originative ideas affirming innovation,” she said.

Another milestone of the Ministry of Agriculture, Olusanya asserted, is the Agricultural Value Chains Enterprise Activation Programme.

She said it was designed to provide agricultural inputs and productive assets to agripreneurs in farming, artisanal fishing, aquaculture, agro-processing and marketing, with business activator/starter packs.

The commissioner said that this was done while nurturing existing agribusinesses into scalable profit-making and sustainable ventures.

She said it also opened new windows of opportunities for active youth development.

Olusanya also mentioned among other achievements of the agriculture ministry, the production of coconut seedlings.

She said this was to enhance local coconut production by providing high-quality, disease-resistant coconut seedlings to farmers.

Olusanya said that Lagos State was the largest consumer of rice in the country, with an estimated consumption of about two million metric tonnes a year.

She also said that the state government had supported more than 23,986 farmers, exceeding its target.

The commissioner said these included rice, fish, and poultry farmers that had enjoyed collaboration with the state.

“The rice mill is part of the government's commitment towards ensuring food security in the state, which is a key component of the T.H.E.M.E.S. + Development Agenda of Mr. Governor to make Lagos State a 21st century economy.

“The Lagos Rice Mill is two lines of a 16-MTPH integrated mill sited on 8.5 hectares of land at Imota.

“The rice mill has a capacity to produce 2.4 million 50 kg bags of rice annually, using 200,000 metric tonnes of paddy.

“The Mill is part of the government’s commitment towards ensuring food security in the state, which is a key component of the T.H.E.M.E.S. + Development Agenda of Mr. Governor to make Lagos State a 21st century economy.

“The Lagos State government has partnered with its Niger State counterpart on the ‘Produce for Lagos Initiative’ towards the supply of agricultural produce from Niger State to Lagos,” Olusanya said.

She also revealed that the state government was set to launch the Lagos Last Mile meat shops to bring the market closer to the people.

The commissioner said the unveiling of the shops and utilisation of new vans at the Oko Oba abattoir would ensure the availability of meat for residents and create market access.

She also advocated proper organisation of the markets in the state for data accuracy.

This, according to her, is the key solution to addressing food security in the state in order for potential investors to make use of available data to project a sustainable public-private partnership.