Kilode? “Lagosians Consume N3Billion Food Daily” – Ambode

Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi
Ambode on Thursday said that investors
willing to do business in the agric sector in
the State can be rest assured of a ready
market and returns on investment as the
daily consumption of food items in the State
is worth over N3billion daily .
The Governor, who spoke at the maiden
edition of the Lagos Food Security and
Exhibition Summit with the theme
“Actualizing Sustainable Food Security in
Lagos State: A New, Comprehensive
Agenda’, said his administration remains
committed in its efforts towards
maximising its comparative advantage in
the sector to achieve food security.
He said Nigeria had no business
resorting to importation to feed its
citizens, adding that there was no
alternative to achieving food security
other than tilling the land and embrace
best practices that will improve
efficiency in the agricultural value chain.
The Governor said, “Our core policy
thrust towards achieving food security is
to maximize the comparative advantage
of the State in agriculture and establish
partnerships with other States of the
Federation with comparative advantage
in specific areas.”
Listing some areas of collaboration
already activated, Governor Ambode said
his administration has sealed a
landmark partnership with Kebbi State
Government for the development of
agricultural commodities such as rice,
wheat, groundnut, onion, maize and beef
value chain, expressing optimism that
the partnership can result in the supply
of 70 per cent of the total national rice
consumption.
“We have also acquired agricultural land
in other neighbouring States of Ogun
and Oyo as well as Abuja. Specifically,
500 hectares of farm land has been
acquired for rice cultivation in Eggua,
Ogun State, 84.7 hectares at Okinni in
Oshogbo for oil palm processing, among
others,” the Governor said.
He said the Lagos Food Security Summit
and Exhibition was organized to bring
together stakeholders in the Agricultural
sector to proffer solutions to the
challenges militating against the
achievement of food security, noting that
the success recorded in the last “Traffic
Summit’ that has eased the traffic
situation in the metropolis can be
replicated in the area of food security in
the state.
He therefore said that in the wake of the
economic challenges facing the country
there was no better time for the nation
to review its approach and the
redirection of its energies to food
production.
“Behind every dark cloud, they say, is a
silver lining. One of the challenges the
current economic recession has brought
to the fore is the urgent need to develop
a sustainable programme that will
guarantee food security for our people.
As a nation, in the past, we spent billions
of Foreign Exchange on importation of
food and food items many of which can
be cultivated in our country.
“Our country is blessed with very good
arable land and a climate that supports
food production. We can achieve food
security and create employment
opportunities for our teeming youth if
we put in place the right policies and
incentives that will attract significant
investment into the Agricultural sector,”
he said.
Also, the Special Adviser to the Governor
on Food Security, Mr. Sanni Ganiyu
Okanlawon, noted that that the summit
was being organized to institutionalize a
food security framework that would
guarantee sustainable food security for
its growing population.
He said the summit was designed to
realign emerging realities with new
global trends on food safety, food
processing, food storage, food handling,
funding of agribusiness and agric
insurance”, adding that it will attract
major stakeholders from the Agricultural
sector and academia, foreign and local
investors, media, civil society and
policymakers in government.
Earlier, Chairman of the Summit, Alhaji
Sani Dangote, commended the Governor
Ambode-led administration for leading
being in the forefront in addressing the
challenge of food security, saying that
the State boasts of a large population
with an economy ranked as the fifth
largest in Sub-Saharan Africa, a bulging
youth population and capital of the
nation’s industrial base.
He said despite the shortage of arable
land in the State, the State Government
can leverage on its comparative
advantages to not only guarantee food
security in the State, but also feed the
neighbouring South West States.
He said the State has the capacity to
make agriculture a profitable business,
which according to him, would
encourage youths to take up agriculture
as a profession and contribute their
quota towards achieving food security.
SIGNED
HABIB ARUNA
CHIEF PRESS SECRETARY
NOVEMBER, 10, 2016

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