Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, on Thursday said 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.
According to the governor, “our core policy thrust towards achieving food security is to maximise 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, 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.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Food Security, Sanni Ganiyu Okanlawon, noted that that the summit was organised to institutionalise 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.
Chairman of the Summit, Alhaji Sani Dangote, commended the Ambode-led administration for 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.
