Lagos state targets over one million youth farmers in 5years

 

Lagos State government says with it’s five year Agricultural master plan, its target is to have over one million youth farmers in the years ahead.

This is according to the State Commissioner for Agriculture Ms. Abisola Olusanya who was speaking at the December edition of the Eko City Farmers’ Fair and Farmers’ Appreciation Day held at the Ndubusi Kanu Park, Alausa, Ikeja.

Olusanya explained that with the numerous programs designed by the State government to develop Agric sector in the State, more people would be encouraged to come into Agric space to add more value to the existing structure.

She stressed that in Lagos, it is not about Agriculture, it is Agric business and Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu is ready to support anyone willing to come into this space.

“The five year Agricultural master plan for Lagos is very youth inclusive.
The plan is that by year 2022 and 2023 we should be having over a well million youth farmers in the Agri space.
You might wonder how this is possible.

“In the Agric space is not necessarily about those who go to farm to kick up, using mechanised tools or implements, it’s also about those who will be in the digital space in Agriculture, those who will be in the crowd funding space, data integration and collection phases as well as those who will be in packaging and processing Units.”

“We will be setting up a butchers’ academy next year, Appeals project is still ongoing, Lagos Cares project is about to commence, Imota Rice Mill project will commence next year, Artisanal fishermen project also ongoing, we have Green House Estate that will commence next year, Lagos Aquaculture Center for Excellent will also commence next year, and all these in conjunction with what we are doing with Lagos State Employment Trust Fund LSETF, trust me, one million jobs is even too small for us to create, we will hopefully create more.” she said

Farmers appreciation

The Commissioner also lauded farmers for their contributions in ensuring that the food supply chain remained unbroken especially during the COVID-19 lockdown.

She explained that the agricultural sector deserved a lot of attention and has been getting such from the State Government noting that the current administration intends to increase the attention moving forward.

According to her, “”The reason for appreciating our farmers today it’s because Mr Babajide Sanwo-olu thought it fit for us to show that our farmers are the back bone of our economy.

“We need to understand that economics globally particularly in the developed world all started with farming and farming is still the backbone of the economy and it is also a form of incentive for farmers to understand their importance and for people to also begin to give them the recognition.

“The year 2020 has been a special and peculiar one with the corona virus pandemic ravaging the world at large and Lagos State being the epicenter of the COVID-19 activity in Nigeria making the agricultural sector the second most impacted sector after health by the pandemic.

“So a farmer is actually much more important than a medical doctor. A medical doctor is someone you need once in a while when you think maybe you need to do medical checkup for food you must consume every day.”

Olusanya thereby noted that farmers play a critical role in the economy of the country and deserved to be recognised as key stakeholders.

Importance of Farmers

She said: “We need to understand the importance of our farmers in the scheme of things; without farmers, the Nigeria of today cannot survive.

“We know what happened during the lockdown when people thought they were not going to get access to food but yet our farmers came through for us.

“Many thanks to you our dear farmers, you stood by us by ensuring that the food supply chain was not broken at any time. It was stretched yes, but with your efforts and God’s grace it was not broken.

Farmers’ Fair

The Commissioner pointed out that the Eko City Farmers’ Fair was intended to be a melting point for farmers to be able to sell directly to consumers and for Lagosians to buy farm fresh products directly from stakeholders at farm gate prices while shopping in a relaxing atmosphere.

She maintained that the whole essence of the occasion is for the government to appreciate the farmers having realized the year 2020 has a very tough year for them, considering all they have been through.

According to her “If I start with the piggery farmers, for instance, with the swine flu that happened, a lot of them lost their means of livelihood almost to a point of no return.

“Our poultry farmers are still under a lot of strain right now as they are not able to get poultry feed. Fish farmers are also going on through a lot of stress with the cost of fish feed. And then you have our rice farmers as well. We are trying to support and we’ll continue to support you.

“But generally speaking, our farmers have been under a lot this year, not just locally, obviously nationally as well and we felt that with the COVID- 19 pandemic and the stress on the food systems, there is no better way to show appreciation to our farmers.

“There is no better way than to start to put our farmers on a platform where they are also recognized locally. It’s been done in other climes and we need to start that from Lagos at least for this year”.

Awards presentation

Highlight of the event was the presentation of awards to outstanding farmers in the State and the awardees according to the Commissioner were chosen on the basis of merit.

“For most of the awardees, it is on the back of hardwork, by them, putting system and processes in place that shows that it’s not just Agric as culture but Agric as business.
And for a lot of them that have shown perseverance despite the challenges they have encountered and their yields, meaning with the small infrastructure at thier disposal they were able to achieve much results.” Olusanya noted

Dr. Yakub Bashorun emerged as the best farmer of the year, Mr. Samuel Omitunde was choosed as the most promising farmer of the year, while Mrs. Sola Ogunleye was adjudged the best woman in agriculture.