• Says Epe food, logistics hub will push state’s food value chain to N14 trillion
• Ekiti to target 200,000 commercial livestock farmers, 1.5m jobs through L-Pres project
Lagos State Government has said that despite training over 100,000 farmers and fishermen in modern agriculture practices, over 75 per cent of the state’s food supply comes from other states.
The state’s Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Systems, Abiola Olusanya, said this yesterday, during the ongoing media briefing to mark the second year of the second term of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in office.
Olusanya, while giving an account of his ministry, said that the training of the farmers and fishermen in modern agricultural practices had significantly boosted productivity and improved livelihood in the last one year.
She said the ministry had continued to promote urban farming initiatives, including supporting farmers with various grants to boost agro entrepreneurship and the value chain in collaboration with the State Employment Trust Fund.
The commissioner said the ministry, through the agric innovation club, had engaged young minds and aspiring agripreneurs in agricultural innovation, technology and entrepreneurship, while providing grant of up to N100,000 million for 26 agro innovators.
Also, yesterday, Olusanya said that the state government is in the process of completing a central food system and logistics hub in the Epe area of the state, saying that the facilities, on completion, will help to push the state food value chain to a N14 trillion worth of food market.
RELATEDLY, the Ekiti State Government has said that it is targeting 200,000 farmers for commercial livestock and aiming to create 1.5 million jobs through the Livestock Productivity and Resilience Enhancement Project (L-PRES).
The state government said it would boost livestock productivity, improve resilience, and commercialise selected value chains initiatives, including cluster formation across the state.
The state’s Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Boluwade Ebenezer, who spoke during the opening of a five-day training workshop on productivity and technology adoption survey and analysis, said the state would focus on four selected livestock value chains, including dairy/beef, sheep/goat, piggery and poultry (broiler and eggs production).
Boluwade, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Ebenezer Babatope Ojo, urged all relevant value chain actors/players to work in synergy with other ancillary agribusinesses to ensure sustainable food security and peaceful co-existence in Ekiti State.
In his remarks, the Project Coordinator of L-Press in Ekiti, Olayinka Adedipe, said that L-Press currently operates in 16 local councils of the state, adding that it is carrying out mass extension works with stakeholders, such as people in academic and extension officers.
Also speaking, the Lead Consultant, Synergy Impact Consultant Limited, Prof. Ogunlola James, noted that the attention had always been on crop production, saying this is the first time the country is shifting attention to livestock production. (Guardian)
