Stakeholders in the Ojokoro Local Council Development Area in Lagos State on Friday urged the government and residents to prioritise food production above building estates, to curb hunger.

The stakeholders spoke at the Lagos State House of Assembly’s 9th Constituency Stakeholders’ Meeting at Ojokoro in Ifako-Ijaiye Constituency II.

 The meeting was held simultaneously in all the 40 constituencies of the state.

The theme of the event is “Ensuring food security for a sustainable Future: Youth participation and home-grown farming.”

Addressing the stakeholders, a member representing Ifako-Ijaiye Constituency II at the Lagos Assembly, Emmanuel Olotu, said that the current hunger called for a shift of attention to food production above other things.

According to Mr Olotu, the clamour for food sufficiency lately has been on the increase, hence the need for residents and stakeholders to prioritise food production using available lands and homes.

He said that addressing food insecurity had become “number one” for the people and efforts should be concentrated on addressing hike in food prices and scarcity.

Mr Olotu said that as lawmakers, the House 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, Mr 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 youth with the skills, knowledge and resources to drive agriculture, innovation and entrepreneurship within every community. To boost food production and also to force prices down to bearable limits, there is a need for strategic solutions and approaches to farming. I call on you all our constituents who have landed property to prioritise using them for agricultural purposes to encourage participation in agricultural activities,” the lawmaker said.

Delivering a lecture on the theme, Omolade Balogun, said that issues of food production remained a collective business, hence each Community Development Association must focus on its area of comparative advantage.

Balogun urged council chairmen to declare a day for residents to showcase their home-grown food production to encourage residents.

Also, Deputy Chairman, All Farmers Association of Nigeria, Lagos State, Shakin Agbayewa, said that it was high time  more lands were allotted for farm settlements rather than estates to ensure food security.

Mr Agbayewa, “We have to go back to the basis, the policy that the state has as regards farm and estate is not ideal, almost all the lands have been hijacked by the 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 a security challenge. Government should please revisit that policy, allowing 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 the farms. They should encourage us by working more with the people they are the landlords renting their property out.’’

According to him, without food, those in the estates will not live.

Also speaking, the Chairman, Ojokoro LCDA, Hammed Tijani, said that the council remained committed to supporting people interested in food production especially during the hard times.

Mr Tijani, who highlighted his administration’s interventions and achievements, said that food production should not be left for the elderly.

A former Lagos lawmaker, Rasheed Makinde, who decried over- reliance on white collar jobs, said that in advanced countries, many people practise urban farming.

The Iyaloja General of Ojokoro LCDA, Silifat Olujimi, noted that residents should not wait until they have hectares of land before farming.

The meeting had various community stakeholders in attendance, including traditional, religious and political leaders, youth groups and artisans among others.

(NAN)