By Mercy Omoike

The Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Food Systems has highlighted landmark achievements of the state in the sector as it woos more young agriprenuers.

The Lagos State Commissioner of Agriculture and Food Systems, Ms Abisola Olusanya, listed the achievements at the Agrinnovation Hangout 6.0 on Friday in Lagos.

The News Agency Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Agrinnovation Hangout 6.0 is an offshoot of the Lagos Agrinnovation Club founded by the ministry in November 2023.

The Agrinnovation Club is a transformative platform uniting agribusiness professionals, policymakers, young agripreneurs, and innovators who share a passion for modernising food systems and addressing the critical challenges facing agriculture today.

Cross section of participants at the Lagos Agrinnovation Hangout 6.0 on Friday in Lagos.

Olusanya noted that the state had witnessed tremendous strides in food security and sustainability since the inception of the club.

The commissioner said the state government would continue to make agriculture more attractive to the younger generation.

Olusanya, however, urged more agriprenuers to be part of the club.

“The Lagos Agrinnovation Hangout is a hangout of like minded individuals, and young people in the food space.

“We want a situation where there is no distinction between a farmer and a logistics provider or a cold-chain solutions service provider.

“A lot of people do not see agriculture or the food space as a nice place or clean space to be in, but people are making very good money here, and obviously it is the way of the future.

“So, we see that we have a duty to ensure that we make agriculture and food systems nicely packaged, very attractive and fun, and at the end of the day, we will see those changes we want.

“And the kind of people we want in this space, will surely come here,” Olusanya said.

The commissioner noted that accountants, economists and bankers were members of the club.

“We have accountants, we have economists, we have bankers, we have architects, a lot of people are part of the Agrinnovation Club.

“They did not study agriculture, but they are in the food space. They are exporting agro-produce out of the country. They are selling far and wide. And so why can we not call on more people to join us?

“We are all in the same ecosystem. So, we understand the need to collaborate. We understand the need to network, to partner hence the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Food Systems created the Lagos Agrinnovation Club,” she said.

Olusanya reiterated Gov. Babajide Sanwo-olu’s continuous support for the agriculture sector.

She urged the young ones to take advantage of the benefits.

“Membership is increasing, but more importantly, it is seeing the cohesion that is happening across the ecosystem and seeing businesses come together to help one another grow are the dividends we are seeing.

“Many members are thriving. They are going into sections of the food space that otherwise they would not have been able to on their own.

“They are benefiting from the utilisation of services of one another, and at the end of the day, everyone is happier.

“Businesses are growing, and more young people are employed, and the food sovereignty, the food security, the food sustainability that we want to see, we will surely get there.

“And Gov. Babajide Sanwo-olu has been very supportive of this idea. Last year, also for the first time, we ran the Lagos Agrithon tailored to the Lagos Agrinnovation Club, where we gave out grants of over N100 million to 26 businesses.

“The intention is to do much bigger than that, and that is why we have actually pushed out partnership talks with so many organisations and with multilateral and bilateral agencies.

“We just want to ensure that if we have a bigger pool, we can definitely help more agri-businesses, and it would encourage more young people to come into the food space,” she said.

On her part, Ms Jette Bjerrum, Consul General/Head of Trade Embassy of the Kingdom of Denmark, promised continuous support for agribusiness in the state and country at large.

“We are building vocational training programmes in agriculture, and we would love to do more partnerships for that.

“We already have a partnership with Milkbond to develop agriculture curriculums. We want agriculture to be attractive to the youth as it is in Denmark.

“It is fancy to work with agriculture in Denmark, it is respectful, it is a passion, but it is also a structured, professionally trained way of working.

“And we hope we can inspire that here, there are so many talents here, so many young people that we think agritech and agrinnovation can mobilise,” Bjerrum said.

Also speaking, Dr Oluwarotimi Fashola, the Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Agriculture, urged the agro-innovators to take advantage of the hangout to learn as much as possible.

“We have seen the Agrinnovation Club grow, thrive and impact lives in the agriculture sector.

“There is always something to learn from the Agrinnovation Club, there is something someone will say that will inspire you in agriculture,” Fashola said.

Mr Emmanuel Audu, the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Food Systems, hoped for more success stories from the Agrinnovation Club in subsequent hangouts.

“The Agrinnovation Club has inspired me to start my own agribusiness; I am going to leverage on this relationship to start my own agriculture business.

“We appreciate everyone for being a part of the Agrinnovation Hangout 6.0 and we hope you hear of more success stories in the agric space when next we meet again,” Audu said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Chinyere Joel-Nwokeoma