SEYI TAIWO-OGUNTUASE
Major stakeholders across the different food value chain in Lagos gathered at the Protea hotel in Alausa, Lagos to brainstorm and deliberate on how to chart way forward for the sector in the state.
The gathering tagged; ‘Ministry of Agriculture food systems stakeholders’ breakfast meeting had in attendance participants from the public and the private sector as well as farmers, processors, and handlers in the agricultural value chain.
The meeting also gave the stakeholders the opportunity to interact and give in their input on how the sector can be well harnessed for the benefit of the Nigerian populace.
Abisola Olusanya, the Commissioner for agriculture in the state while speaking on the five year Agricultural and Food Systems Roadmap launched by Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, the Lagos state Governor in 2021, said the government is doing all within its power to ensure that food production is boosted to achieve at least 40 percent food sufficiency in the state.
While speaking on the Lagos red meat initiative stressed that the state is interested in the value chain because the state consumes more red meat than any other state in the country and the West African sub region.
According to her, “the current demand for the eradication of open cattle grazing by stakeholders in Nigeria and adoption of restricted grazing system in many states of the federation demanded that urgent action be taken to facilitate the birth of the ranching system.
She said that the ranching system has been ascertained to be economical and more sustainable as well as capable of bringing to an end the very many ills of the open grazing which has brought untold hardship on farmers and avoidable conflicts between farmers and herders.
“About 1.873.667 heads of cattle , 468,416.75 metric tonnes of beef, are required annually in order to meet part of the protein requirements of the over 24 million citizens of Lagos.
“Local production stands at 3.099.75 metric tonnes ,12.399 heads of cow. The deficit is huge leading to a dependency on cattle from other parts of the country,” she said.
He said the state government will set up more Feedlot Systems, the establishment of Butchers Academy and the creation of a last mile meat shop.
She said there is need to put in place a sustainable system of production of red meat considering the fact that 99.34percnet of the red meat consumed in Lagos state are not produced there.
She noted that under the plan for 2023-2025, the state will go live on eight projects which include, the Central Logistics Hub, Lagos Aquaculture Centre for Excellence (LACE), capacity building for horticultural stakeholders and full operations and capacity building for stakeholders in Lagos Food Production Centres.
Dr. Oluwarotimi Fashola, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Agriculture in his remarks on the running of the Lagos rice mill in Imota, noted that the mill was commissioned last year with the assistance of Mr. Governor.
He said that the mill started off with about 5,000 tonnes of paddy, but by God’s grace and the ingenuity of the team they were able to partner with Commodities and Futures Exchange that brought in another 10,000 tonnes of paddy to end the year.
“So in the year 2023 we were able to do roughly about 50,000 tonnes of paddy which is about 120, 000 bags of rice.
“This year, 2024, we are hoping to do 100,000 tonnes of paddy and that is not coming cheap.
“Last year, we started off with about N200,000 per ton, today as I speak, the cost of paddy is about N510,000 per tonne.
“In other words if we are able to do 100,000 tons of paddy we need N50bn there is no budgetary system that can account for that.
“And we set to finish the entire mill system this year by God’s grace, which means we will be looking at doubling that by next year.
“We need to work together with the private sector towards achieving this. I am happy that we have the Commodities and Futures Exchange on board with us. We will get there by God’s grace.
“The ultimate goal is that 40 per cent of our food need, including rice would be supplied to the system. With that we can be rest assured that whatever happens we are well covered. That is the goal, which is the objective, that is what we are working towards and we will ensure we get there.” He added.
Emmanuel Olotu, chairman of Lagos State House Assembly Committee on Agriculture called on stakeholders to boost their agricultural productivity in the state to drive food security.
He commended the state’s agric ministry for spearheading projects that allow them to share in the activities that will shape the food system in the state in 2024.
“Our shared goal should be the development of a resilient and efficient food system that benefits farmers, consumers and the state,” he said.
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