The Lagos State Government has said it is intensifying efforts to ensure food security and stabilise the prices of food items across markets in the state.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Agriculture and Food Systems, Dr. Oluwarotimi Fashola, disclosed this on Wednesday while speaking with journalists at the JJT Park, Alausa, after a walk to the Ikeja Under-Bridge to commemorate this year’s World Food Day.
Fashola said the government’s establishment of food hubs was aimed at guaranteeing the safety of food and other consumables while addressing logistics challenges contributing to the rising cost of food distribution.
He said the World Food Day walk was also designed to sensitise residents to the need to contribute to food production, including through subsistence farming.
According to him, this year’s theme, “Innovate Today to Nourish Tomorrow,” was timely, noting that food security in any society would ultimately translate into social security.
The Special Adviser said various policies and initiatives implemented by the state government had created an enabling environment for private-sector participation across the agricultural value chain.
Fashola disclosed that about 3,500 stakeholders in the agricultural sector would be empowered as part of activities marking this year’s celebration.
He added that financial support for members of the Agrinnovation Club had been increased to ₦200 million this year to encourage more young Nigerians to pursue opportunities in agriculture.
Also speaking, the General Manager of the British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation, Oludare Odusami, said the organisation’s support for aquaculture and poultry farming was deliberate, given their contributions to nutritious food production.
Odusami said the foundation would distribute essential materials to poultry farmers involved in layer production at the Police College, Lagos, as part of activities marking this year’s World Food Day.
