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.

The State Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms. Abisola Olusanya who made this known in Lagos today, explained that 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: “I am delighted to address you today and avail you of the forthcoming launch of the five-year Agricultural Development Roadmap for the Ministry which is slated for launch by the State Governor, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu next week Thursday”.

“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”, she noted.

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.

The Commissioner added that the Roadmap also highlights the need for the State Government to partner and collaborate with private investors and relevant authorities in improving the environment through proper waste management as well as relocation and upgrading of service centres such as sawmill and open markets in the State.

Olusanya explained that the policy focus 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 opined that a 21st-century economy is characterised by four key goals which are job creation, food security, standardisation and internal revenue generation for the State.

According to the Commissioner, the State Government has painstakingly prepared the strategic plan to collaborate and partner with stakeholders in the intervention areas such as policy review, formulation and implementation, database collation and upgrade, as well as repositioning of agencies and departments of the Ministry to achieve these goals.

“In adopting the five-year strategy, we believe that it will boost food production and drastically reduce post-harvest losses thus encouraging private sector investments that would trigger agricultural transformation in the Southwestern States following the examples of countries such as Kenya, Malawi and China among others, who within 10 years made a significant reduction in the poverty level through Agricultural development”, Olusanya asserted.