FG Agriculture’s agricultural input distribution in Lagos benefits over 4,000 farmers

Precious Ugwuzor

More than 4,000 farmers in Lagos State whose farmland / crops were affected by the 2020 floods in the State will benefit from the direct distribution of agricultural inputs from the federal government to farmers.

Lagos State Agriculture Commissioner Miss Abisola Ruth Olusanya made the disclosure during the halt in the distribution of agricultural inputs to the agricultural center of the State Ministry of Agriculture in Oko Oba, Agege.

According to her, the federal government, through the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), in response to the impact of flooding across the country in 2020, has provided assistance to affected farmers and farms. to reduce the impact on their livelihoods.

She explained that the items to give to each farmer include fertilizers, growth promoters, herbicides, pesticides, knapsack sprayers, a water pump and seeds.

“The physical count and verification of affected farmers was conducted in the state earlier between June 24 and June 28, 2021. This verification was carried out by a joint team of federal and state agencies to ensure transparency.

“4,354 farmers were identified from this exercise, including 2,085 maize producers, 1,550 cassava producers and 719 rice producers.

“I am convinced that the small gesture of the federal government will go a long way in bringing aid to affected farmers and in the long term and will help alleviate the food shortage resulting from the impact of the floods,” she added.

Abisola reiterated the Lagos State Government‘s commitment to continue supporting agricultural value actors statewide.

The Director General of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu congratulated the Governor of Lagos State, His Excellency Babajide Sanwo-Olu, for granting the agriculture the desired attention to ensure food security which is important for the well-being of the people of Lagos State.

“The farmers are well taken care of in terms of data collection and all data is with the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture.

“We do a lot of things in terms of awareness and training. When I talk about capacity building, I am talking about giving them equipment and giving them funds, as well as encouraging them to be in some kind of cooperative.

“We run the cooperative society in another form, which means that they have data collections, that they have a clear association, we interact with them, we have agents who visit them and we will make sure to document all these interventions, “he added. .

In addition, Ibrahim Farinloye, Southwest Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), said that the volume of income has increased and that “when you talk about farmland, the location of farmland, especially in Lagos State, you know most of the areas of Lagos State. are below sea level, so what we have in place is enlightenment.

“Lagos a few months ago never had anything on disaster risk reduction because the disaster responses are not the best, but now we are working with the State Emergency Management Agency from Lagos and other agencies like state environment ministry, state agriculture ministry to see what we can do to reduce the frequency of various disasters.

“It is more economical to reduce disasters than to respond to disasters because most disaster victims never recover. We are working on the integration of the disaster risk production strategy in Lagos State.

“The pumping machine is intended to reduce and encourage dry season agriculture. We have already registered the farmers who have been affected so far this year. We work with them and give them encouragement and training on the dos and don’ts to reduce losses.