Lagos targets food security with five-year agricultural development roadmap

Lagos State Government, yesterday, said it would on Thursday, April 22, 2021, launch a five-year agricultural development roadmap in line with its THEMES developmental agenda for its food security goals.

The state’s Commissioner for Agriculture, Abisola Olusanya, who stated this in Lagos, explained that the roadmap would help the state achieve its goal of making Lagos a 21st century economy.

According to her, the roadmap is focused on the development of agricultural value-chain where the state has comparative advantages to ensure that the state attains its food security goals.

“I am delighted to address you today and avail you of the forthcoming launch of the five-year agricultural development roadmap for the ministry, which is slated for launch by the state governor, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, next Thursday.

“The agricultural development roadmap was conceived by the Ministry of Agriculture as a direct outcome of the present administration’s THEMES developmental agenda, particularly the fourth pillar of making Lagos State a 21st century economy by ensuring that the agricultural sector plays the role of ensuring sustainable food security.

“Its focus is on the development of agricultural value-chain where the state has competitive and comparative advantages to ensure that the state’s self-sufficiency in food production moves from 18 per cent to 40 per cent of food needs in the next five years and thus ensure that Lagos State achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as it relates to the sector,” she noted.

According to her, the roadmap highlights intervention areas by the ministry to boost agricultural productivity at the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors of seven value-chains and services, bearing in mind the comparative advantages Lagos State has in these sectors.

The commissioner added that the roadmap also highlights the need for the state government to partner and collaborate with private investors and relevant authorities in improving the environment through proper waste management, as well as relocation and upgrading of service centres, such as sawmill and open markets in the state.

Olusanya said that the policy focus at the inception of the state’s Ministry of Agriculture was on direct production of agricultural produce, adding that over the years, the policy thrust changed from direct production to provision of conducive environment for private sector investment.

She stated that a 21st century economy is characterised by four key goals, which are job creation, food security, standardisation and internal revenue generation for the state.

According to the commissioner, the state government has painstakingly prepared the strategic plan to collaborate and partner with stakeholders in the intervention areas such as policy review, formulation and implementation, database collation and upgrade, as well as repositioning of agencies and departments of the ministry to achieve these goals.