By Olayinka Olawale

The Lagos State government said the COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus Programme (Lagos-CARES) surpassed its targets in Result Area 2 in the state.

Ms Abisola Olusanya, Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture, stated this in her opening address, at the performance review workshop and retreat for staff of Lagos CARES Results Area 2 (FADAMA), on Tuesday in Lagos.

Olusanya, however, said all must be on deck to build the much-needed resilience for unusual times such as COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Fadama NG-CARES provides input support, farm infrastructure, public health and economy, improved community livelihood, and contributing to the state’s priorities.

“It is heartwarming that Result Area 2 had gone through three consecutive cycles of implementation with sterling performances, surpassing targets,” she said.

She said the intervention generated about N12 billion as reimbursement into the state government’s coffers within two years of implementation.

“It goes without saying that participants at this programme realise the enormity of the tasks at hand and expectations from it.

“This couldn’t have come at a better time given the present national food security status occasioned by a myriad of factors.

“These include disruptions in global food supply system as a result of conflicts, climate change, and internal security challenges,” said Olusanya.

According to her, the state has been proactive in taming the food security challenges through its immediate intervention programmes aimed at short, medium and long-term solutions.

“Especially and as encapsulated in the five-Year agricultural development roadmap.

“Fadama project, through its implementation of RA 2 of Lagos CARES programme, is an integral part of these interventions.

“Therefore, I implore participants to take the pain, effort and time to have proper grasp of implementation challenges and properly interrogate the learning curves as you review the performances,” she said.

Prof. Adebayo Shittu, Consultant for Lagos N-CARES programme, also lauded the Lagos state government for its timely release of funds for the implementation of the programme.

Speaking on the report of beneficiaries and impact assessment of the Result Area 2, Shittu said nations had not fully recovered from the pandemic as prices of food items continued to rise.

“Economic trends post COVID-19 is devastating, everybody is suffering from the impact.

“The state government needs to scale-up the Lagos FADAMA CARES interventions, particularly in the areas of provision of input and services as well as supply of productive assets.

“The project also needs to lay some emphasis on supporting expansion of public extension service delivery system.

“The most impactful of the Lagos/FADAMA CARES interventions are those that deliver private benefits vis-à-vis input support, advisory services and provision of productive assets,” he said.

Shittu said since 2021, Lagos N-CARES had directly supported 22,894 vulnerable people across the local governments and local council development areas.

“The Lagos NG-CARES programme has contributed positively to the development of the THEMES Agenda of the Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration,” he said.

He urged the government to strengthen its extension service department in the ministry of agriculture.

The Special Adviser to the Governor of Lagos State, Dr Oluwarotimi Fashola, called for the institutionalisation of the NG-CARES programme in the state.

Fashola commended the staff of the Fadama/N-CARES coordinating office for discharging their duties appropriately and beyond expectations.

Mr Emmanuel Audu, Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture, said the government was satisfied with the results posted by FADAMA N-CARES programme.

Audu urged the participants to dedicate thier efforts to learning from one another on what worked, what didn’t work, and ways forward for improvement.

“It is gratifying to note that the platform is a leading partner in the implementation of Lagos CARES programme having been saddled with the responsibilities to deliver four out of the 10 Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs) selected by the state.

“This performance review workshop is a self-appraisal exercise that is good for subsequent planning, especially with the ongoing discussions for NG CARES.

“Therefore, it couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time than now.

“When the state is deploying resources to tackle the national food crisis whose remote cause is rooted in COVID-19 and other extraneous factors of climate change, insecurity, amongst others,” he said.

Also speaking, Mr Jonathan Obayemi, State Project Coordinator, said the Lagos N-CARES programme had supported 22,894 beneficiaries, rehabilitated 71 wet markets and provided support in three value chains; Livestock, fisheries and crops.

He said the income generated by beneficiaries had more than doubled since the intervention programme started.

“This workshop is even more special to us as the first phase of the programme winds down in few months.

“It involves a lot of tidying up, closure and disclosure activities, studies and reviews, as well as documentations.

“There is no gain saying that COVID-19 is gone, but communities and livelihoods are being daily impacted by shocks in one form or the other. Thus, we should be ever prepared to respond,” he said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Salif Atojoko