The Lagos State Government has partnered with China food processing company, Yihai Kerry Aranawa Holdings Limited, to improve productivity in rice value chain and enhance food security in the state.
The state government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the company in an initiative to boost agricultural productivity and combat the lingering high cost of rice and other comestibles, as informed by the Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Sanwo-Olu alongside some officials of the state witnessed the signing of the MoU on Wednesday.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Agriculture (Rice Mill Initiative), Oluwarotimi Fashola, signed the MoU on behalf of the Lagos State Government, while Group Director, Rice Industry Division, Yihai Kerry Arawana Holdings Co. Limited, Wang Wei, signed on behalf of the Chinese company.
The signing was also witnessed by the Group Head of Rice, Wilmar Group, Mr. Prashant Trikha.
Sanwo-Olu said: “We realise that we have the capacity to feed ourselves as a people, if we put the right investment in agriculture. That is why our administration has prioritised agricultural value chains. Our rice initiative, with the Imota Rice Mill is projected to provide 1,500 direct jobs and over 250,000 indirect jobs. The rice mill alone has a capacity to produce 2.8 million bags of 50 kg bags of rice yearly.
“Lagos State Government is committed to enhancing agricultural productivity and has been actively engaged in the promotion of cultivation of rice to meet the high demand for rice consumption in Lagos State, further to which it has established a 32-metric-tonne per hour capacity rice mill in the Imota area of the State.
