Lagos Gov. prioritises food security

chika ebuzor

August 24, 2015 7:36 AM

Mr Olajide Basorun, Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture, on Sunday said that food security remained one of the cardinal programmes of Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode’s administration.

The governor of Lagos state

A statement by Mr Tunbosun Ogunbanwo, Assistant Director, Press and Public Relations of the ministry, said in Lagos that the government had put in place strategies that would engender sustainable food production.

"One of the major principles of attaining food security is to look at those areas where one has comparative advantage and focus on them to ensure that the citizens were well fed."

"One of those areas is aqua-culture because more than 22 per cent of the entire land mass of Lagos is covered by water and we have 180km coastline,’’ it said.

The statement said the government would continue to support fish farming and production in its bid to address the decline in the supply of captured fish.

"Government will continue to create enabling and conducive environment, facilitate capacity building and create ground for easy access to credit facility for fish farmers. This will reduce the cost of production and enhance profitability,’’ it said.

The statement explained that the reduction in fish supply was due to a number of factors, including pollution, high cost of fishing input and the use of obnoxious fishing methods.

It noted that the residents had always been fishermen but over the years, their catches had been dwindling.

chika ebuzor