Measures are being put in place by the Lagos state government to combat the rising cost of food and develop a reliable reserve management system in the state.
The Ministry of Agriculture has been rebranded as the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Systems.
During the official rebranding of the ministry, Abisola Olusanya, commissioner for Agriculture and Food Systems, highlighted the importance of reviewing Ministry activities to enhance performance in addressing the current food crisis and ensuring food sufficiency in Lagos
Olusanya emphasized that food production involves many activities and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration is using strong partnerships to support this system
“A lot is happening behind the scene to ensure that in terms of pricing of food we are able to bring it down and the inclusion of Food Systems is a process towards achieving this feat.”
The commissioner also mentioned that the Ministry will be having the addition of three departments; namely, department of livestock services, agricultural engineering department and agricultural produce safety and quality control department.
According to her, the state government is constructing a feedlot and that Lagos is known as the hub not just for marketing of food but remains epicenter where livestock are sold, processed and consumed.
“We procured tractors and other implement as far back as 2021 during our Enterprise Activation Program. We have been utilizing them and we will be adding more to the fleet and because of the partnership with the sister states,” the commissioner said.
“There will be a lot more investment around mechanisation to increase crop production and for that reason it was essential to create the departments. The Produce Safety and Quality Control department will help ensure safety of the large quantity of food being consumed in Lagos,” she added.
Olusanya emphasized that the 2021 Agricultural and Food Systems Road Map highlighted projects and programs related to domestic self-sufficiency, upcountry partnerships, storage processes, logistics capacity development, and modern food markets. He confirmed that the state will be moving forward in that direction.
She added that the harmonisation of farmers’ data base has assisted greatly to extend adequate support to the farmers in clusters, thereby increasing food production and reducing food prices.
“We have farmers cutting across poultry, fisheries, vegetable, piggery, rice, because Lagos had competitive advantage on this areas and when you consider the population you will see that it is for us to do precision support, and it would help us to engage the farmers and enhance their capacity.”
“What we are looking at is to support the clusters where these farmers reside so as to increase food production.
The commissioner pointed out that the state is proficient in processing and marketing, but should focus on boosting production capacity by expanding processing capabilities to lower food prices nationwide.
Olusanya highlighted the success of the Middle-level Agro produce platform in Mushin, revealing that the Food hub has generated over 918 million naira in food sales through 40 market transactions. 339 vendors offer their goods at the Hub for free, and the controlled environment allows for seamless data retrieval.
We are now able to share data on the quantity of specific food items entering the market, identify the sellers, and their prices. This will help address various challenges, and a new department called Produce Safety and Quality Control has been set up to ensure food quality, safety, and pricing for the people of Lagos.
She discussed with the journalists about fairly distributing food aid to the poor people of the state and other upcoming interventions.
