Lagos to establish food centres in Badagry, Epe

Lagos State governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Tuesday said the state government will establish two food production centres in Epe and Badagry to be known as Lagos Food Production Centres in order to ensure sustained food production and supply in the state.

Besides, the governor disclosed that the state government would also establish the Lagos Aquaculture Centre of Excellence (LACE), a ten Billion Naira project to be located on a 35 Hectares of land in Igbonla in Epe under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement, declaring that it was the state government was committed to achieving its goal 100 per cent increase in food self-sufficiency by 2023.

Sanwo-Olu made this disclosure in while speaking at the symbolic distribution of agricultural inputs and productive assets to 2,743 farmers under the 2020 Agricultural Value Chains Empowerment Programme, explaining that the two centres would ensure the resuscitation, expansion, stocking of agricultural production facilities in various value chains.

Governor Sanwo-Olu who was represented by his deputy, Dr Obafemi Kadir Hamzat, noted that the two centres would also develop Agro-Tourism centres in Lagos State Songhai Project in Badagry and the Agricultural Training Institute, Araga, Epe.

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The governor, while speaking on the proposed N10-billion Lagos Aquaculture Centre of Excellence (LACE), said the project was designed to boost the growth and development of aquaculture industry in the state through the direct production of 2,000 tonnes of fish annually, provision of inputs to fish farmers under the Lagos Nucleus Farms (LANS) scheme and serve as off-taker for fish farm clusters in the state.

“The experience of the past few months during the lockdown occasioned by COVID-19 pandemic has further reinforced the urgent need to expand the state’s food production base to meet such spontaneous increase in demand for food in the future.

“In line with this realisation and to ensure sustained food production and supply in the state, we are establishing the Lagos Food Production Centres in Badagry and Epe. The two centres will ensure the resuscitation, expansion, stocking of agricultural production facilities in various value chains and also develop Agro-Tourism centres in Lagos State Songhai project in Badagry and the Agricultural Training Institute, Araga, Epe.

“In addition, we are also establishing the Lagos Aquaculture Centre of Excellence (LACE), a Ten Billion Naira (N10,000,000,000.00) project to be located on a 35 Hectares of land in Igbonla in Epe under a Public-Private Partnership arrangement.

“It is designed to boost the growth and development of aquaculture industry in the state through the direct production of 2,000 tonnes of fish annually, provision of inputs to fish farmers under the Lagos Nucleus Farms (LANS) scheme and serve as off-taker for fish farm clusters in the state,” Governor Sanwo-Olu stated.

The governor, who noted that Agriculture sector remains a key component through which the state government intends to realize its dream of “Making Lagos a 21st Century Economy,” which is the pillar of the T.H.EME.S Agenda of his administration, opined that some of the programmes would make the realization attainable.

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According to him, the goals were aimed at achieving food security, creating employment opportunities and wealth for farmers and all those who operate within the agriculture value chain, even as he noted that the Annual Agricultural Value Chain Empowerment Programme is one of the strategies designed to boost food production and supply through the provision of agricultural inputs and productive assets to farmers and other players in the value chain.

“This year’s edition is quite auspicious coming at a time we need to do a lot to cushion the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the productive capacity of our farmers and other actors within the agricultural value chain.

“Currently, our level of food self-sufficiency in Lagos State stands at about 20% leaving a deficit of about 80%, which is mostly accounted for by supplies from other states. Our goal is to achieve a 100% increase in food self-sufficiency by 2023.

“We are committed to meeting this target with you as our key partner and through the implementation of our programmes, policies and projects which are aimed at maximising our comparative and competitive advantage in the agricultural space,” Sanwo-Olu averred.

According to him, some of the policies, programmes and projects are designed to improve the capacity of agricultural value chain actors, revolutionize agricultural productivity with the introduction of modern technology and best practices.

“The short, medium and long-term goals of these efforts include making the agricultural space attractive for private investment, improve the welfare and well-being of our farmers and sustainably ramp up food production and supply in the State.

“I am happy with the progress we are making in the implementation of the various projects and initiatives towards achieving our goal of 40% food self-sufficiency in the state.

“Some of the flagship projects include the 32 Tons/hour rice mill in Imota which we hope to commission by December this year, the Lagos Agripreneurship Programme, the Agro-Processing, Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support Project (APPEALS), the Coconut Value Chain Development project, the Red Meat Value Chain project, the Fish Cage Culture Project among others,” Sanwo-Olu said.

The State Acting Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms Abisola Olusanya, earlier in her remark, explained that agriculture was not only a major source of employment for Lagosians but also vital to the promotion of food security as it plays a crucial role in increasing quantity, quality and diversity of food supply which ultimately improves the nutritional status of the people.

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The commissioner noted that the empowerment was a means of channelling needed support to smallholder farmers who were actively engaged in the various Agricultural Value Chains, saying this was to create further wealth and job opportunities while delivering optimum economic benefits to farmers and other operators.

“The overall aim of the Agricultural Value Chains Empowerment Programme is to provide the necessary agricultural inputs and productive assets to farmers as a means of achieving improved food production and supply as well as delivering optimum economic benefits to farmers and other operators.

“It, therefore, follows that interventions to enhance agricultural productivity would raise the income level of the rural population thereby creating further wealth in farming communities,” she said.

Speaking further, Olusanya said that the empowerment was not only targeted at farmers who were the direct beneficiaries but also at service providers, transporters, input manufacturers and suppliers within the system whose services were required for the successful implementation of the project.

Olusanya disclosed that since the inception of the project in 2014, a total of 11,233 farmers, fishermen, butchers, processors and marketers have since been empowered.

Also speaking, Chairman, Committee on Agriculture, Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Kehinde Joseph, called for the legislation of the Value Chain Empowerment Programme, saying doing this would ensure the programme outlive every government bearing in mind its importance in achieving food security in the state.

The lawmaker, therefore, urged beneficiaries to make judicious use of the empowerment farm inputs.

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