Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms. Abisola Olusanya has indicated that 3,000 Agripreneurs would be empowered at this year’s annual Agricultural Value Chains Enterprise Activation Programme slated for Thursday, 29th July, 2021.

Ms. Olusanya, who spoke in Lagos over the weekend, explained that 70% of the beneficiaries are women and youths, adding that the Programme has been specifically targeted at three value chains of poultry, fisheries (artisanal) and piggery.

According to her, the beneficiaries will include 300 Lagos Agripreneurship Programme (LAP)/Agricultural Youth Empowerment Scheme (Agric-YES) participants, 400 pig farmers, 680 fishermen, 190 fish cage culture beneficiaries, 360 egg marketers, 500 fish processors, 200 rice farmers and 370 crop farmers.

The Commissioner added that the three value chains were targeted because statistics indicate that the value chains were most affected by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and zoonotic diseases, just as they are sectors where the State has comparative and competitive advantage.

Her words: “We will be empowering farmers with tractors, ploughs, disc harrows, fishing boats, outboard motor engines, nets, fish-finders, thresher battery cages, point of lays, poultry feeds, de-feathering machines, destoning machines, juveniles, fish feeds, medications, pig growers, smoking kilns, GP tanks, freezers, herbicides and many more”.

While noting that the Programme is in line with the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration’s T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda, Olusanya maintained that the Programme put the State on a pedestal of attaining food self-sufficiency and reduce its dependence on other States for agricultural produce.

She stated that the selection process was free of any interference whatsoever from the political sphere, as all beneficiaries were either selected on merit or through nominations by their Agriculture Cooperative Associations.

Urging all prospective beneficiaries to fully maximise the opportunities offered by the programme, the Commissioner encouraged that the participants to serve as proud agriculture ambassadors of the State and also inspire younger ones to venture into the agriculture business.