……As Council Chairman Wants Subsidy On Agric Products.
Emmanuel lkpeama
The Lagos State House of Assembly has called on stakeholders collaboration to tackle the issue of food insecurity and build a future where youths can be empowered and famers thrive with abundant food.
The Speaker Lagos State House of Assembly,Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa made the appeal during the 9th Edition of the Annual Constituency Stakeholders Meeting of the Lagos State House of Assembly held at the Agege Local Government Secretariat .
Hon Obasa in his address to his constituents identified food insecurity as a multi-faceted challenge requiring the efforts of the government and the people to resolve, stating that the state lawmakers has created a veritable environment for agriculture to thrive by passing the Anti-Open Grazing of Livestock Law.in September 2021.
“The legislation makes it a punishable offence for cattle rearers to move their livestock through farmlands or occupy unapproved public places with their cattle.
“We should cast our minds back to the crises that led to loss of lives arising from farmers-herders clashes across the country which necessitated the passage of the law in Lagos State.
“We passed this law to protect our farmers from being attacked and their farmlands from being encroached upon as it is happening in other States, where farmers’ crops are being destroyed, which invariably leads to shortage of food items in the country, and the attendant high prices,” he said.
The Speaker went further to state that the Lagos Assembly was committed to ensuring food security in line with the United Nation’s sustainable development goals of eradication of poverty.
“We at the Lagos State House of Assembly are committed to making Lagos an producing state and not just a consuming state in the agriculture value chain to tackle the present-day reality of food insufficiency.”
“Our commitment is exemplified through transformational laws and policy supervision in the agricultural sector,” he said noting that with the collaboration of the Assembly, the government of the state has made giant strides in the agriculture sector.”
“You will agree with me that the clamour for food sufficiency lately has been on the increase, hence this year’s Stakeholders’ meeting with the theme: Enabling Food Security for a sustainable future; youth participation and home grown farming is very apt, as it focuses on discourse towards addressing the hyper food prices and scarcity which invariably led to Food insecurity through the actions of some unpatriotic people that hoard Food items for personal gain to the detriment of other citizens.”
“The Lagos State House of Assembly has introduced several initiatives to increase agricultural productivity and outputs in the state. These initiatives are anchored on building competence among farmers and improving agro-business climate and by direct intervention in agricultural activities.”
“These initiatives include setting up of the 34-hectare Ikorodu Fish farm estate which has capacity of producing and processing 10, 000 tons of fish per year, with partnership with 400 fish farmers in the state.”
The AGRIC-YES programme that was set up to build competence among youths and encourage their participation in various activities within the emerging agricultural value chain in the state.
Another is the Oke-Aro and Gberigbe pig farm estates that currently partners with 1200 farmers have the capacity of housing and processing 88000 mature pigs per annum. And lastly, the Eko farmers market has been established in collaboration with private-sector partners to serve as a link between the agricultural producers and markets in order to ensure that farmers get their fair value for their produce.”
He commended the Lagos State Government supports for agricultural activities while calling for more interventions to achieve the desired results.
“To reduce the impact of food insecurity, the Lagos State Government has for some months been selling “Ounje Eko” which consisted of farm products at subsidized rates in various designated areas in the state, taking off 25% of normal prices. This commendable effort, which is being geared towards food sufficiency at reduced prices,has been viewed as a timely panacea to cushion the harsh effects of food shortage and insufficient income by many people in the state.”he submitted
He however pledged the collaboration of the Lagos State House of Assembly with the executive arm to develop comprehensive policies and programme for youth engagement in agriculture, investing in modern farming techniques, technology and research.
The keynote speaker, Dr Akinyemi Olusegun of the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture urged the youths and residents in the state to engage in urban farming.
He said, “We are here to discuss the food insecurity in the land. We are here to tackle the challenges of hunger in the land and to do this, Agriculture is the solution. In Lagos, we are more than 22million and as a result we have a huge need for food. People want to eat and engage in food business. There is pressure for food supply and that is why in the Ministry of Agriculture that are experts in the field of Agriculture.
“Our youths must engage in agriculture business and especially farming. There is home grown farming otherwise known as urban farming. We can engage in snail farming. We can grow vegetable and yam in our various homes. This is why the Lagos State government is encouraging us to go into farming.”he stated
Earlier, in his opening remarks, the Host and chairman of Agege Local Government Area, Mr Ganiu Egunjobi identified insecurity and non-availability of low interest loan for the teeming youths population as responsible for the food crisis.
“This meeting cannot come at a better time. The problem responsible for the food shortage are many among which are insecurity that has prevented many farmers from accessing their farms. Farming in Nigeria is no longer attractive to the teeming youths.
“I want to suggest to the government at all levels to subsidise farming and also give loans at very low interest to farmers. The government should also improve on existing physical infrastructures in farming communities that would discourage urban migration and encourage youths to embrace farming. Farming and youth unemployment are recurring issues which require multidimensional interventions to tackle,” he said.
Investigator news reports that this year’s stakeholders’ meeting is the ninth in the series and has the theme: ‘Ensuring Food Security for Sustainable Future: Youth Participation and Home-Grown Farming’ as the constituency stakeholders’ meeting was held simultaneously across the 40 constituencies in the state.
Those in attendance include the Council Chairman Mr Ganiyu Egunjobi,his Vice Chairman, leader of the council and other councilors, traditional leaders, political stakeholders, youths and women among others
