The Lagos state government on Thursday, October 9, 2014 announced that it was targeting a 25% food production rate by 2018 as part of moves to ensure food security, the Vanguard reports.
Prince Gbolahan Lawal, the Lagos state commissioner fro Agriculture and Cooperatives made the assertion while speaking to journalists ahead to this year’s World Food Day celebrations in Alausa, Ikeja, the state capital. He said the targeted food production rate was part of plans by the state to make sure food scarcity was a non-issue to its teeming populace.
He stated that the state has been taking on some programs and projects aimed at increasing food production just as it had acquired lands to be used for farming from Osun, Oyo, Ogun states as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Lawal called on players in the private sector to take full advantage of the huge demand for for staple food stuff like rice to boost its production. He further added theat as at December 2013, the state was able to produce 159,000 metrc tonnes of fish as against the 109,000 figure for 2010.