• Abiodun distributes agricultural equipment to farmers
• Expert advocates reforms in Nigeria’s food supply chain

Lagos State Government has planned to host the South-West Zone bi-yearly review of the Food Systems Transformation Pathways (FSTP) Strategy and Validation of the Draft Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) from tomorrow.

According to a statement yesterday by Director, Economic Planning Department, Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget, Bakare Olaolu, the three-day engagement will bring together government representatives, policymakers, technical experts and development partners to review implementation progress, among others.

However, an agricultural development expert, Olakunlehin John Oladapo, has called for reforms in Nigeria’s food supply chain, saying increased production alone would not make food affordable to struggling families.

Meanwhile, Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, in collaboration with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), through the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) Programme and other stakeholders, has distributed agricultural equipment, inputs and deployed 1,240 digital devices to farmer organisations.

The equipment comprised eight threshers, eight farm tricycle trailers, eight tricycle-drawn cassava planters, 20 rice planters, eight reapers, 20 rechargeable chemical sprayers, 20 solar-powered irrigation water pumps, eight power trailers and 20 rice transplanters.

In addition, 10,400 cassava farmers were targeted for agricultural input support, with each beneficiary package comprising eight litres of herbicide, two litres of insecticide and 25 bundles of cassava cuttings.

Similarly, 2,810 rice farmers were to benefit from input distribution, with each package comprising 25 kilogrammes of rice seeds, two bags of NPK 15-15-15 fertiliser, one bag of urea, two litres of herbicide and one litre of insecticide.

The governor made the distribution at the weekend at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Abeokuta, where he reaffirmed his government’s commitment to agricultural innovation, mechanisation and digital transformation as strategies for enhancing food security and boosting farmers’ productivity.

The distribution came on the heels of this year’s 2026 World Food Day, themed: “Innovate Today, Nourish Tomorrow.”

Oladapo, who spoke as the Lions Club distributed food items to vulnerable households in Lagos to mark World Food Day at the weekend, said weaknesses in transportation, storage, packaging and distribution continued to undermine access to affordable, nutritious food.

He said that food security depended on the entire journey from farms to consumers, including the activities of transporters and market traders, rather than production alone.

The expert, therefore, called for practical innovations to reduce costs and improve the movement of food from producing areas to urban markets.