The Lagos State Government has urged residents to increase their participation in subsistence farming to achieve self-sufficiency, create jobs, and ensure food security.
Abisola Olusanya, the State Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Systems, made this appeal during the distribution of agricultural inputs and assets to beneficiaries in Oko-Oba, Agege.
According to a statement released on Thursday, the commissioner revealed that around 10,000 beneficiaries, including fishermen, aquaculture, poultry, piggery, and vegetable farmers, benefitted from the fourth cycle of farm input distribution.
Olusanya highlighted that the initiative is a collaboration between the federal and state governments and the World Bank under the COVID-19 Action Recovery Scheme.
The statement also noted that farmers are expected to supply produce for sale at the reintroduced Sunday Market, which offers a 25 percent discount.
Permanent Secretary Emmanuel Audu and Special Adviser to the Governor on Agriculture and Food Systems, Dr. Oluwarotimi Fashola, encouraged beneficiaries to use the inputs effectively.
Jonathan Obayemi, State Project Coordinator for Lagos CARES Result Area 2, expressed gratitude to the governor for approving the farm inputs and supplements.
Josephine Iliya, a farmer from Ikeja Military Cantonment, expressed her appreciation for the support provided by the state through FADAMA.
Among the distributed farm inputs were 32,750 fish juveniles, 4,740 bags of poultry feed, 61,500 day-old chicks, 1,004 bags of fertilizer, 596 kilograms of vegetable seeds, 2,198 bundles of fishing nets, 72 canoes, 351 liters of agrochemicals, and 25 water tanks.
Additionally, Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, the wife of the Lagos State Governor, completed the selection of 200 participants for the nationwide farming competition for female first-time farmers.
This competition, titled “Every Home A Garden,” is part of the Renewed Hope Initiative led by Senator Oluremi Tinubu, with a grand prize of N20 million for the winner.
At a press conference and seminar for the selected Lagos participants at the State House, Ikeja, Dr. Ibijoke assured that the state would provide all necessary resources to ensure a Lagos participant wins.
