Lagos kicks off activities to mark World Food Day, says priority is given to reduction of food wastages in the state

The Lagos State government says adequate attention is accorded to the issue of food wastage which is one of the reasons for the rise in the cost of food items in the county.

It says appropriate storage system is been considered for average market women in order to reduce their losses.

The State Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms Bisola Olusanya disclosed this at the media briefing in Alausa to kick off the year 2023 World Food Day.

At the moment, the food inflation rate in Nigeria is put at 31.5% and had adversely affects the purchasing power of the people.

She said that every 16th of October is set aside to mark the World Food day by reflecting on various issues affecting the accessibility and availability of foods to people around the world

According to her, the day was also set aside for stakeholders in the food chains industry to deliberate and recommend solutions to problems confronting access to foods including poverty and hunger

She said that since high volume of what is consumed in the state are imported, it became imperative for government to ensure proper hygiene to safeguarding the lives of the citizens.

Speaking to the theme of this year’s celebration which is “Water is life water is food, leaves no one behind” the commissioner explained that the challenges of crisis around the world had adversely affected availability of food.

She however stressed the need to raise more awareness on managing water effectively due to the advent of climate change.

Ms Bisola Olusanya noted that the state is currently revolutionising farming practice by enriching the lives of farmers community to fortify food production and distribution in lines with the T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

She said further and I quote” In maximising the potentials of the water deposit in the state, the state is collaborating with Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy to harness the sea foods potentials of the state.
With the availability of right License and equipment, the state will improve on this and get it right”. End of quote.

Disccussions are ongoing with private sector in this regard according to her.

The state Government is collaborating with other ministries in ensuring that Lagos do not succumb to the forces of climate change which also affects food production and distribution.

On his part, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Agriculture, Dr Oluwarotimi Fashola said that the Lagos Rice Mill Imota played a significant role in the distribution of Palliatives to residents.

He dosclosed that government had commenced the sale of the rice since June adding lot of distributors patronised it and now selling to the people.

He explained that this was done through the Commodity exchange but government later discovered that people were diverting it from residents and selling at higher prices.

To correct the anomaly, Dr. Fashola noted that government have designated places to sell to residents for proper monitoring.