The Lagos Food Systems Infrastructure Company’s Produce for Lagos Program has received a N25 billion donation from Tony Elumelu, chairman of United Bank for Africa (UBA).
It is anticipated that the program will improve food security and encourage the state’s economic growth.
Elumelu made the announcement at the initiative’s Wednesday launch in Lagos.
“It will assist us in addressing the issue of our children’s unemployment in a few years,” Elumelu stated.
“We think that one of the biggest issues facing our youth is unemployment. They shouldn’t be unemployed because our fields are fertile.
Referring to the project as “our initiative,” he called on all parties involved to work together to realize the objective.
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“We at United Bank of Africa, Transcorp Group, Tony Elumelu Foundation, and Heirs Holdings will do whatever your excellency asks us to do,” Elumelu declared.
Together with a N500 billion offtake guarantee fund, the Produce for Lagos Program was formally launched by Abisola Olusanya, the state’s commissioner for the ministry of agriculture and food systems.
According to Olusanya, the project is a component of the 2021-launched Lagos State Agricultural and Food Systems Roadmap.
She clarified that by implementing a data-driven structure that allows governments to monitor and maximize the supply of agricultural produce to the state, the program tackles the unorganized and informal flow of food into Lagos.
“Assuring market access for farmers and agribusinesses, enhancing supply chain efficiency, lowering food costs and post-harvest losses, and establishing sustainable livelihoods throughout the agricultural value chain are the goals of the Produce for Lagos Program,” Olusanya stated.
“This is consistent with His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, GCFR, which places a high priority on food security and agriculture as national objectives.”
The program establishes Lagos as a key partner and dependable off-taker in the development of a robust and integrated agricultural economy, the commissioner continued.
An agreement on the production and sale of food products between the governments of Lagos and Niger states was signed in March 2024.
