Oluwabunmi Fache
The Lagos State government Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu has launched a 5-year agricultural development roadmap in line with its THEMES developmental agenda particularly the 4th pillar – Making Lagos State a 21st Century Economy The launch was on Thursday April 22, 2021.
The State Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms. Abisola Olusanya made this known last week in Lagos during which she explained that the roadmap would help the state achieve its goal of making Lagos a 21st century economy by ensuring that the agricultural sector plays the role of ensuring sustainable food security.
According to Olusanya, “the focus of the roadmap is on the development of agricultural value chains where the State has competitive and comparative advantages to ensure that the State self-sufficiency in food production moves from 18-percent to 40 percent of food needs in the next five years and thus ensure that Lagos State Achieve The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS) as it relate to the sector she noted”.
The five year roadmap therefore highlights intervention areas by the ministry to boost agricultural productivity at the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors of seven value chains and services taking into consideration the comparative advantages Lagos State has in these sectors.
According to her, the agricultural sector in the State has evolved through several decades from when the State was created in 1967. At the inception of Lagos state Ministry of Agriculture, the policy focus was on direct production of agricultural produce by the State, for many reasons, over the years, the Police Trust changed from direct production to provision of a conducive environment for private sector investment.
She said a 21st century economy is characterized by four key goals which are job creation, food security, standardization and internal revenue generation for the state.
In achieving this goals, the ministry has painstakingly prepared a strategic plan to collaborate and partner with stakeholders in the intervention areas such as policy review, formulation and implementation; database collation and upgrade; reposition of it agencies and department; capacity of its workforce and stakeholders with special focus on youths and women; encourage public private partnership to establish companies and processing to boost and sustain agricultural productivity in fisheries ,poultry, piggery, red meat coconut, rice and vegetables value chain by adopting appropriate technologies in line with global best practices.
In addition to the value chain interventions, she explained 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 and relocation/upgrading of service centres such as sawmill and open markets in the state”.
