Agriculture Contributes N7trn To State’s GDP – Lagos Commissioner

By Felix Kuyinu

The Lagos State Commisioner For Agriculture, Abisola Olusanya, has reckoned that the state’s Agricultural Sector boosts the state’s Gross Domestic Products, GDP, by a total of N7 trillion.

Abiola informed that the state’s food market size stands at N9m in daily transaction and N5 trillion each year.

The Commisioner revealed that there are not less than 10,000 heads of cattle slaughtered daily in the state. Furthermore, Olusanya assured that the state government is also working in collaboration with other states in ensuring that 200,000 tonnes of paddy required at Imota Rice Mill are met.

She stated, “In Nigeria, agriculture contributes 25 percent to the GDP. But in Lagos, Agriculture encompasses a lot up to food production, so agriculture contributes N7 trillion in the last couple of years to the Lagos economy.

“This is to tell you that we have the potential, there is opportunity. We will not relent in terms of making it better,” she added.

While reiterating on availability of data, the Commissioner stated, “There are so many loopholes. A lot of the people take advantage of these loopholes. This is why we will be taking advantage of the logistics hub in Epe.

“Lagos slaughters not less than 10,000 heads of cattle daily, these include what is slaughtered in our barracks.”

She stressed the significance of meat preservation by explaining that the state government would inaugurate 50 vans of meat at Oko-Oba abattoirs.

Harping on production of rice, Olusanya maintained that, “Lagos State is the largest consumer of rice in the country with an estimated consumption of about 2 Million metric tonnes per annum.

“The Lagos Rice Mill is 2 lines of 16MPH integrated mill sited on 8.5 hectares of land at Imota. The rice mill has a capacity to produce 2.4 million bags of 50 kg bags of Rice yearly using 200,000 Metric tonnes of paddy annually.

“The Mill is part of the government’s commitment towards ensuring food security in the State which is a key component of the T.H.E.M.E.S + Development Agenda of Mr. Governor to make Lagos State a 21st Century economy.”