Lagos residents consume N5trn worth of food annually

Lagos Government, yesterday, said residents of the state are consuming food and agricultural produce worth about N5 trillion annually.

Commissioner for Agriculture, Abisola Olusanya, disclosed this during a news conference in Lagos to commemorate the second year in office of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration.

Olusanya said the amount might increase to N6.3 trillion by 2030 if the population grew to 30 million.

“It is worthy to note that in terms of the amount of food we consume in Lagos on an annual basis, it is almost N5 trillion.

“If the population is to grow to about 30 million by 2030, Lagos will likely need food worth N6.3 trillion on an annual basis,’’ she said.

According to her, currently, Lagos is producing about 20 to 24 percent of its food needs. She said about 76 to 80 percent was sourced from other parts of the country or imported from other countries around the world.

“We need to up our food production to be able to meet up with the demand that will be upon us.

“Considering our departments and agencies, we have been saddled with the responsibility to ensure in terms of food sufficiency level of Lagos, we up the numbers to 40 or 50 percent by 2025,’’ she said.

The commissioner said food sufficiency target grew from 18 percent in 2015- 2018 to 24 percent between 2019 and 2021, adding that it was expected to increase to 40 percent by 2025.

Olusanya said food was very critical to achieving all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adding that the state government was not taking it for granted.

According to her, food is very critical and “we shouldn’t take it for granted; which is why in this ministry, we see it particularly as a very serious business.

“If you are talking of low poverty, zero hunger, gender equality, education, life on land, life on water, whatever the SDGs is, without food, it can’t work.”