Lagos empowers 3,000 youths, women in agric enterprise program

The Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu has activated agricultural investment that empowers 3,000 farmers with a call for the involvement of private partnership in key sectoral value chains.

The move, according to the Governor is to enhance food sufficiency programme of his administration, which he described as another milestone in fulfilling his administration’s electoral promises to the people.

Speaking at the 2021 Agricultural Value Chains Enterprise Activation Programme in Lagos, the Governor explained that his government was  deliberate to focus attention on women, youths and peasant farmers who were the main beneficiaries of the program, stressing that the modern equipment which came as a support would help them make significant difference to scale up their agricultural practices.

The beneficiaries were selected for the scheme through a merit-based system anchored by independent associations of farmers across the State. The support was majorly for agripreneurs in poultry, piggery and artisanal fishery – the three sub-sectors largely affected by the disruption occasioned by Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Sanwo-Olu noted that the intervention was necessitated by the need to raise food production, processing and marketing, while also creating jobs and sustaining the livelihood of the farmers through value creation.

He further stressed that through the scheme, the Government would be easing the burden of the beneficiary farmers and agriculture workers.

He said: “This Agricultural Value Chains Enterprise Activation Programme is a clear demonstration of the commitment of our administration to the development and expansion of the agricultural sector, which is driven by a farm-to-table model that aligns with our goal of making Lagos a truly 21st century economy.

 “We are determined to increase food production in the State from the current 20 per cent to at least 50 per cent by 2025 and this effort has been emboldened, given the observed disruption in the supply chain of food across the country as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the outbreak of zoonotic diseases. 

“We have emerged wiser and more determined to succeed in creating and nurturing a viable agribusiness sector in Lagos. The State Government has put in place a strategy for the proper utilisation and continuous maintenance of the assets being donated to derive maximum value from them. We are also working with a financial institution regarding appropriate financing structures for the guaranteed sustainability of the programme.”

The Governor maintained that the State would continue to deploy innovative and entrepreneurial ideas to create opportunities that would make the State sufficient in food production, having acknowledged the deficiency of agricultural land in Lagos.

He urged the beneficiaries to expand the scope of their businesses by activating new businesses and create positive impacts for agro-processors in the value chains.

Transforming mindset

Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms. Abisola Olusanya, said the State Government had not only restructured the projects for greater impacts, but also changed the name to transform the mindsets of beneficiaries not to see the initiative as entitlement and largesse from the Government.

“The Enterprise Activation programme will contribute to inclusive agricultural growth in Lagos, as it will be creating access for beneficiaries to exit the poverty trap and reduce economic inequality. Aside creating new marketing opportunities in the value chains, the programme will also provide a social safety net for youth, women and the vulnerable.” Olusanya said

She explained that the programme would help committed farmers to nurture their businesses into viable agricultural enterprises, pointing out that the Government had created a monitoring mechanism to keep track of the beneficiaries’ activities.

She also said that it was the desire of the government to help committed farmers to nurture their farming activities into viable and mature agricultural enterprises through a deliberate monitoring and control mechanism.

The Commissioner however noted that team accountability has been put in place in order to ensure the proper utilization of assets which has resulted in the collaboration with Ecobank for the fisheries value chain and the MSME Accountant Initiative of the State Ministry of Finance for the Lagos Agripreneurship Programme (LAP) and Agricultural Youth Empowerment Scheme (Agric-YES) beneficiaries.

Lateefah Ibrahim