AOLG produces stevia, to domesticate across Lagos, says lawmaker

As part of efforts aimed at ensuring food security, the lawmaker representing Amuwo Odofin Local Government (AOLG) Constituency 1 at the Lagos State House of Assembly (LSHA) Stella Osafile last Friday disclosed the community has started production of stevia, a plant based sweetener.

Osafile made the disclosure at the sidelines of the 9th Constituency Stakeholders’ Meeting held in Lagos.

With the theme: “Ensuring food security for a sustainable future: youth participation and home-grown farming”, Osafile said the aim of the meeting is to deliberate and proffer solutions on how to ensure food security and sustainability for the next generation.

To her, food insecurity was caused by factors including, inflation rate, subsidy removal, insecurity, hoarding of food and climate change.

The lawmaker, however, said AOLG, last August, embarked on urban farming training, where 70 youths were trained on innovative approaches to agriculture.

Describing Lagos as cosmopolitan state with limited land, Osafile added the training equipped participants on vertical hydroponic farming, growing foods vertically, using pet bottles and plastics, around the home.

She revealed: “We introduced stevia, it’s new gold. It originated from Mexico and can grow very well in Nigeria.

It’s a sugar plant that we can use in place of real sugar and there is a high demand for it.It has low calories and one kilogram is about N25,000 in the market. So we have it and we want to spread it across the whole state.”

In conclusion, Osafile noted: “For the majority of us living in flats, you can use pots, pet bottles vertically to grow your vegetables.”

Earlier, the Speaker of LSHA Mudashiru Obasa, said the meeting would also identify the root causes of food insecurity and proffer sustainable solutions to benefit the nation.

In addition, Obasa noted: “The Lagos State Government, enabled by the house, has introduced several initiatives to increase agricultural productivity and output in the state. These initiatives are anchored on building competence among farmers, improving agro-business climate and by direct intervention in agricultural activities.”

He stated some of the initiatives include setting up the 34-hectare Ikorodu Fish Farm Estate, which have the capacity of producing and processing 10,000 tonnes of fish per year.

Other initiatives are: the AGRIC-YES programme, Oke-Aro, Gberigbe Pig Farm Estates and Eko Farmers Market.

Saying home-grown farming is crucial to food sufficiency, he added, “this aggressive farming by all will create more jobs and balance income opportunities across the state including the rural areas for our people.”

He urged constituents, with landed properties, to prioritise yielding them for agricultural purposes to encourage participation in agricultural activities.

Obasa further advised them to also rear animals, including goats, cows, and production of poultry breeds and products rather than focusing on food items, including rice, yam, fruits and vegetables.

The Chairman of AOLG, Valentine Buraimoh, lauded the lawmakers for intervening in the plight of the grassroots.

He urged the LSHA to include the solutions proffer at the meeting in the next fiscal budget for the year 2025.

On his part, Councilor for Ward K, Olanrewaju Hammed said it was important that the youths are empowered with skills to promote farming.

Hammed, who is also the Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture, urged all constituents, irrespective of age, to adopt home-grown farming to reduce costs of food.

Stevia is a plant known for its sweet leaves that is about 200 to 300 times sweeter than sugar. Some of its benefits include anti-inflammatory properties, zero calories and low glycemic index.

The event was held simultaneously across the 40 constituencies of the state.