» Lagos Consumes N135bn Rice, N2.19m Cattle Annually — Ambode «

Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Oluwatoyin
Suarau (right), with Permanent Secretary, Kebbi State
Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Nababa Adamu (left), signing a
Memorandum of Understanding on the Development of
Commodity Value Chains between the two states while
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode (right
behind) and Kebbi State Governor, Alhaji Atiku Bagudu (left
behind) watch, at the Lagos House, Ikeja, on Wednesday,
March 23, 2016.
Lagos State consumes N135 billion worth of rice and 2.19
million herds of cattle annually, says Governor Akinwunmi
Ambode.
The governor who disclosed this on at the State House,
Ikeja, Lagos, southwest Nigeria on the occasion of the
signing of Memorandum of Understanding between Lagos
and Kebbi State on the development of Commodity Value
Chains, said the future of Lagos State was partly tied to
deliberate resolution on food security.
He said food production and self-sufficiency required its
immediate attention at policy and strategic levels to
sustain the state, adding that Lagos State is the largest
consumer of food commodities in Nigeria by virtue of its
population.
“We have the market, with the required purchasing power
also. Lagos State has an estimated consumption of over
798,000 metric tonnes of milled rice per year which is
equivalent to 15.96 million of 50kg bags, with a value of
N135 billion per annum.
“We have the economic prowess to produce rice locally.
The era of imported rice is gone. The reality is for all of us
to embrace the consumption of local foodstuff and
commodities. In addition to rice, Lagos is currently
consuming 6,000 herds of cattle daily which may increase
to 8,000 in the next five years,” he said.
According to Ambode, the bulk of the vegetables produced
in the country end up in the Lagos markets as the state is
one of the largest producers of poultry and thus had a large
demand for maize for livestock feed production.
“The state also houses most of the industrial users of
wheat and sorghum; mostly flour mills, bakeries, breweries
and food manufacturers. Kebbi State, on the other hand, is
blessed with a vast arable land suitable for the cultivation
of rice, wheat, groundnut, maize, sorghum and sugar cane.
“It is an agrarian State with over 1.2 million hectares of
arable land characterised by very large floodplains, lowland
swamps and gentle slopes. In the 2014/2015 wet season,
over 600,000 hectares of land was deployed for rice
cultivation in the three senatorial areas of the state.
“The people are traditionally rice farmers with average
land holding of about 10 hectares. currently, Kebbi has over
50,000 metric tonnes of paddy in store produced from the
last two planting seasons,” he said.
The governor said with these considerations in mind,
Lagos and Kebbi States had decided to collaborate and
exploit areas of comparative advantage to create value for
both states, saying that this alliance would ensure food
security, job creation, increase in farmers’ income and the
overall improvement in the living conditions of the
residents of both states through wealth creation and
poverty reduction.
He added that the collaboration was in line with the clarion
call and policy direction given by the President,
Muhammadu Buhari, on the need “to feed ourselves.”