By Juliet Uduji
The Lagos State Government is set to launch a five-year Agricultural Development Roadmap on Thursday, 22nd April 2021 in line with its T.H.E.M.E.S developmental agenda.
Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms. Abisola Olusanya who made this known in Lagos on Thursday, explained the roadmap would help the State achieve its goal of making Lagos a 21st Century Economy.
According to Olusanya, the roadmap is focused on the development of agricultural value chains where the State has competitive and comparative advantages to ensure that the State attains its food security goals.
Her words: “The road map was conceived to ensure that the agricultural sector plays the role of ensuring sustainable food security.
“It will focus on the development of agricultural value chains where the State has competitive and comparative advantages to ensure that the State’s self-sufficiency in food production moves from 18% to 40% of food needs in the next five years and thus ensure that Lagos State achieves the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as it relates to the sector.”
According to her, the road map highlights intervention areas by the Ministry to boost agricultural productivity at the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors of seven value chains and services, bearing in mind the comparative advantages Lagos State has in these sectors.
Olusanya explained the policy focuses at the inception of the State’s Ministry of Agriculture was on direct production of Agricultural produce, adding that over the years, the policy thrust changed from direct production to provision of a conducive environment for private sector investment.
She stated a 21st-century economy is characterised by four key goals which are job creation, food security, standardisation and internal revenue generation for the State.