By Olanrewaju Adesanya
Residents of Ifako-Ijaiye constituency 2 in Lagos State on have been counselled on the need to team up with government in a bid to ensure food security.
Speaking at the ninth edition of the Lagos State House of Assembly Constituency Stakeholders’ Meeting held at Ojokoro in Ifako-Ijaiye.
The meeting held simultaneously across the 40 Constituencies of the state recorded a huge turnout of constituents, who were urged to prioritise subsistence farming to ensure food security.
The theme of the parley is “Ensuring Food Security for Sustainable Future: Youth Participation and Home-Grown Farming.”
Hon. Emmanuel Olotu, member representing Ifako-Ijaiye Constituency 2 at the Lagos Assembly affirms the urgency for a deliberate paradigm shift towards unfettered food production.
Olotu maintained that given the prevailing clamour for food sufficiency in recent times, the best approach is for all residents and stakeholders to accord food production a serious consideration putting all available lands into profitable agric use.
He said that addressing food insecurity is so critical and all efforts should be concentrated on solving the hike of food prices and scarcity.
Olotu said that as lawmakers the House had created an enabling environment for farming activities to thrive in the state especially through the passage of anti-open grazing of livestock Law to protect farmlands.
Calling for home-grown farming, Olotu said that food production systems. Must be capable of withstanding climate change, economic variables, providing access to healthy food and promoting sustainable practices that preserve national resources.
“To achieve these goals, our farming capacity has to be widened, involving everyone, including the youths with the skills, knowledge and resources to drive agricultural, innovation and entrepreneurship within every community.
“To boost food production and also to force prices down to bearable limits, there is need for strategic solutions and approaches to farming.
“I call on you all our constituents who have landed properties to priorities yielding them for agricultural purposes in order to encourage participation in agricultural activities.
“Let us therefore collaborate to build a food security future for Lagos State and Nigeria – a future where our youths are empowered, our farmers thrive and our communities flourish with abundant foods,” Olotu said.
Delivery a lecture on the theme, Mr. Omolade Balogun, said that issues of food production remained a collective business, hence each Community Development Association (CDA)must focus on its area of comparative advantage.
Balogun urged all council chairmen to declare a day for residents to showcase their home-grown food production to encourage residents.
Mr. Shakin Agbayewa, the Deputy Chairman, All Farmers Association of Nigeria, Lagos State, said that it was high time we de-emphasis allotment of lands to building of estates rather than farm settlements to ensure food security.
“We have to go back to the basis, the policy that state has as regards farm and estate is not ideal, almost all the lands has been hijacked by government or reallocated back to the estate people.
“From Epe to Ikorodu, all you see are now estates. For us to farm now, the government has pushed us into the bush and this poses security challenge.
“Government should please revisit that policy, allow farmers access to lands. No matter how lofty the idea of the government is without access to lands, we should forget it.
“The government must help us to bring back our farms and ensure security on those farms.
He also proffered a solution on ensuring security on farm lands which in his view will further encourage many to go back to farming.
“Also, there is one thing the DSS need to do for us, that is security profiling. Federal government just came up with 8000 farm rangers for 21 states, if you divide it that is 480 in each states, that amounts to maybe ten in each local governments.
“It is not enough, instead allow each local government to come up with farm rangers which will be profiled by the DSS and once they see that they are not security risk the local government should remunerate them to ensure protection on the farms and that will encourage farmers.
“It will also create a source of employment for our teeming youths. Bring the Agbeloba, Egbe Odo and Amotekun on board and pay them salaries having been profiled and affirmed of not been a security risk. They know the nooks and crannies of the forests.” Agbayewa said.
Also speaking, the Chairman, Ojokoro LCDA, Hammed Tijani, said that the council remained committed to supporting people interested in food production especially in this economic hardship.
“Tijani, who highlighted many of his intervention and achievements, said, ” Food production should not be left for the elderly.”
Hon. Ipoola Omisore, a former Lagos lawmaker, said that the solution to food insecurity remained in the hands of the people with home grown farming.
Another former Lagos lawmaker, Hon Rasheed Makinde decried too much reliance on white collar jobs.
“In advanced country, we have urban agriculture where at every backyard of every building, they involve a kind of mini-agriculture,” Makinde said.
Alhaja Silifat Olujimi, the Iyaloja General of Ojokoro LCDA, who noted that residents should not wait until they would have hectares of land before doing farming.
Olujimi urged youths and school leavers to embrace farming instead of waiting endlessly for white collar jobs.
The meeting had various community stakeholders in attendance, including traditional, religious and political leaders, youth groups, artisans among others.