By Adedapo Adesanya
The Lagos State government said it would hold the 2020 edition of its Eko City Farmers’ Fair and Appreciation Day on Sunday, December 20 to enable residents shop for produce, including rice, at farm gate prices.
The state’s Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms Abisola Olusanya, stated this on Thursday in Lagos.
She said that residents would have the opportunity to buy rice at N20,000 per 50kg bag as part of the state government’s intervention in collaboration with the federal government and Kebbi Government.
Ms Olusanya noted that the fair, which would hold at the Ndubusi Kanu Park, Alausa, Ikeja, would further help to upgrade the agricultural supply chain by connecting all the agricultural value chains with their markets.
The commissioner said that the fair would be a platform for the best of the city’s producers to meet with consumers and end-users using the traditional and innovative development methods to showcase a well organised high-quality market to meet the consumers’ increasing demand for farm produce.
“On Sunday, December 20, Lagos state will be hosting the Christmas edition of the Eko City Farmers’ Fair where Lagosians can shop for their fresh farm produce at affordable prices.
“The event which will hold at the Ndubusi Kanu Park, Alausa, and Ikeja will also include a short ceremony to appreciate our farmers who have done everything in their power to ensure that we did not negatively feel the impacts of the Coronavirus on our food supplies,” Ms Olusanya said.
She noted that the objectives of the market were to connect producers and make shopping entertaining, make produce accessible and affordable to consumers, as well as to preserve the nutritional value of farm produce.
She said it would also promote the “farm to fork” concept of the input and output policy of the state government.
Ms Olusanya said that farmers in the state lacked direct access to markets, a situation that had led to them selling their produce to middlemen at rather ridiculous farm gate prices.
According to her, the Eko City Farmers’ fair will help in eradicating the practice.
“Farmers that are able to penetrate the market find it difficult to break through cartels by the market associations.
“Therefore, they are forced to sell at the association’s dictated prices. These challenges have restricted many of the farmers to subsistence production,” Ms Olusanya said.
The Commissioner explained that the Eko city farmers’ fair was aimed at increasing the productivity of farmers as well as creating an avenue for inclusive business, where farmers make more profit since they sold directly to consumers.
Modupe Gbadeyanka