By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Food worth over N5 trillion is consumed annually by the more than 22 million people living in Lagos, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms Abisola Olusanya, has claimed.
She said as a result of this, the government wants the private sector to consider investing in the agriculture sector because many areas that will benefit them have been identified.
She said a few of these areas of investment include the red meat value chain, artisanal fisheries and livestock feed mills.
The Commissioner noted that if this call is heeded, Lagos State will witness an increased production in the value chains, creation of jobs across the value chains, standardisation of operations in the value chains as well as an improvement in the gross domestic product (GDP) of the state.
“In line with the State’s five-year strategic agriculture roadmap, where it has identified many areas of investment opportunities for the private sector participants, Lagos State is set to explore private sector collaboration in its agriculture sector, particularly the red meat value chain, artisanal fisheries, as well as livestock feed mills for possible partnerships with private investors and entrepreneurs with the objective to stimulate and encourage more public-private partnerships in the three value chains.
“We are the largest market Sub-Saharan Africa has. With over 22 million in terms of population, we consume food well worth over N5 trillion annually and over N8 billion on a monthly basis.
“What the administration of Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu is focused on is in terms of enforcing a market structure or bringing together a market structure that ensures a transformation in the food system; an Expression of Interest advertisement would be rolled out from next week calling on interested investors”, Ms Olusanya noted.
The Commissioner stated that in the red meat sector, the state consumes over 6,000 herds of cattle daily and over 1.8 million herds of cattle annually, which is 50 per cent of the red meat consumed in Nigeria as a whole, adding that there exists a lot of opportunities to be tapped into in the red meat sector.
She pointed out that possible areas of collaboration in the red meat value chain are animal identification and traceability, the establishment of feedlot and fattening centres, creation of a better logistics solution system, as well as the creation of a better system of running abattoirs in a standard way to meet up with global best practices such that more hygienic slaughtering areas are the norms rather than the exceptions.
Other areas of possible collaboration, according to her, include setting up standardised meat shops, proper management of animal waste, biogas production and transportation of the meat to the final consumers in a wholesome and hygienic way and condition.
The Commissioner described the transactional value for cattle alone in Lagos to be worth over N328 billion, adding that when the red meat transformation agenda comes fully into play, it would help the state government eliminate logistics costs of transporting cattle.
She stated further that Lagos is working on harnessing sectors where it has a comparative advantage to further grow its economy with emphasis on the artisanal fisheries sector.
Ms Olusanya noted that a lot more had to be done around the livestock sector as well, to draw in more private sector participants who can play on a commercial scale and ensure that with regards to sustainability, Lagos is more food secure.
Dipo Olowookere