by Alli Mustapha
The Lagos State Government has announced that it is building
modern agriprenuers who would in turn drive further its e-agriculture policy of
digitalizing sales and marketing of agricultural produce.
Prince Gbolahan
Lawal, The State Commissioner for Agriculture, during a visit to the trainees
of the on-going one-month Lagos Agripreneurship Programme at the Agricultural
Training Institute, Araga, Epe Local Government explained that the new crop of
farmers undergoing the training would be the pioneers of the Government’s
e-agriculture policy which will see to the trading of agricultural produce
through all social media platforms as marketing tools.
Lawal established
that the use of digital marketing would greatly enhance sales which will in
turn translate to more profit for the farmers for their efforts while also
widening their scope in advanced farming system.
The Commissioner
pointed out that digitalizing agriculture would arouse the interest of more
youths into the sector and as a result more jobs would be created, unemployment
reduced, economic activities enhanced, crime rate within the State reduced and
above all help achieve the State’s target of producing at least 25% of the food
consumed by residents of the State before the end of year 2025.
“This training is
expected to produce 2000 ‘laptop carrying farmers’ and Agripreneurs in 2020 who
would in turn become job creators thereby promoting food security and improving
the nutrition and general well-being of Lagosians. We would take over the digital
space by using all social media platforms to market our agricultural produce as
a result more profit will be generated and many more youths would express
interest in the Agricultural sector”, Lawal noted.
The Commissioner
urged the trainees not to limit their scope to local agribusiness alone, adding
that the diaspora markets were seeking more African food stores that would be
able to produce or supply food peculiar to Africa.
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