Dr. Olajide Basorun is the Permanent Secretary of the Lagos state Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, charged with the responsibility of ensuring food security in the state. Basorun recently spoke with Vanguard’s  Olasunkanmi Akoni on a number of issues concerning agricultural sector as it affects the state and the nation at large. Excerpts:

How has the ministry impacted on the agricultural sector in the last two years or so.?

We began the year with an interaction with the farmers to know their expectation from the government and the areas they will need the intervention of the government. This we usually do annually,  review meeting,  where we examine the activities for the past year and further map out what we want to do for the year.

We were able to develop areas of intervention for our farmers in all the various enterprises that are commonly undertaken by our people in Lagos state. This range between aquaculture, captured fisheries, poultry and vegetable farming, arable crops including cassava, maize and agro processing that is value added services which include marketing, transportation and others.

One will see that the state government approach now is to examine the entire value chain and work towards improving all the segments as against developing one segment of the production chain without allocating some funds for other segments.

Due to the state government initiative to consider all the entire segments, it has help to impact more on the productivity of the stakeholders in the sector.

First, we are adding value through capacity building of the farmers. We believe that if the farmers know more about what they are doing, they will be more productive. That was why the state government built the farm service centres.

At this centre, we undertake periodic training for the farmers in the state. At the centre, the farmers have access to regular information about the sector. This information also allowed them to plan their season.

We have also been able to rehabilitate 13 old tractors that we have. And we have bought seven  new ones which has increased the tractors to 20 that the state government has deployed since the onset of the rain.

The state government did this so that farmers in the state will have access to mechanisation at 50 percent subsidy. That was how we began the year. And we have also gone further to distribute farm inputs to the core farmers. The inputs are fertilizers, seeds and this is of course at 40 percent subsidy. For our captured fishermen, we gave them outboard engines, fishing nets, and floats, so that they can do what they know how to do best.

For our crop farmers, the state government gave them seedlings of high yield vegetable, we gave them cassava cuttings. We did these because we know that it helps the farmers a lot in their production.

For our poultry farmers, what we have done is to develop a poultry estate where we have major service centre. Whether a farmer is a prospective or practising poultry farmer, once he or she enters the poultry estate, he is entitled to farm inputs that he needs to set up his farm in the estate.

Also in the estate, the farmers have access to processing of farm produce because the state government has made provision for such service in the estate.

Another step taken by the government was the engagement of services of extension workers who are scattered across the state to deliver information to farmers at their door step. We embarked on this in order to relief the farmers of the stress of searching for information on what is happening in the sector. All expenses on this service is paid by the state government.

While the extension workers inform and train the farmers on new developments, the state government also conduct training for the extension workers every 14 days.

However, every month, we engage in monthly technology review meeting where we invite lecturers, research experts to interact and train the extension workers. After this, the workers disperse to various parts of the state to inform the farmers of what they can do to improve their yield.

This they do every fortnight. And every third Thursday of every month, we organise Monthly Technology Review Meeting (MTRM) at agriculture development training hall, Oko-Oba. The entire topic for this meeting is designed at the commencement of the year and it is based on the yearly review of the agricultural activities of the state in the just concluded year. During the review, we are able to know which area the farmers in Lagos require assistance of the government.

And where we were unable to provide the solution, we develop what we called on-farm adaptive research. With this, we adapt what people in other states or country are doing that we have not been able to develop. We adapt them into what we already have in stock in Lagos state.

Where we adapt new technology from other countries and other states in Nigeria, we will bring it to Lagos and adapt it to our environment. And ones it is adapted, it becomes an extension message which would be sent to the farmers through the extension workers.

The workers would enlighten the farmers based on the condition of their environment on how they can plant the new adapted crop. And we do it in conjunction with the farmers because we do not have our own farm. We do it on the farmers plot. Sometimes, one out  of the farmers in a particular area may be aware of such development, if he calls for such service; we use that opportunity to train other farmers in that location about the new development.

In the course of the year, we were able to rehabilitate two cottage processing centre for rice in Itoga and Itoi-kin, Epe axis of the state. These are cottage processing centre where we process our local rice. During the rehabilitation, we installed new machines and building. And final at that area, we commissioned 20, 000 tonne per annum capacity processing centre, Imota in Ikorodu. The centre is to produce polished rice that would compare favourably with imported rice.

When do we see the rice processed in Imotan in the market?

We have started producing rice daily. Two days ago, I got complain about a parboiling machine and we quickly called the engineers involved to put it in order. And we have begun to send the rice to the market.

Our demand for rice in Lagos state is very huge, what the plant produces daily is small compare to the demands from the public. So, we need additional facility of that magnitude so that we will begin to substitute imported rice with the locally grown ones, that is, import substitution. That was the idea behind the rice processing mill.

The same strategy we have adopted for rice is what we have adopted for fish, poultry. These are the major food that we consume daily in Lagos. Due to the cosmopolitan nature of the state, larger percentage of the state’s population eat rice, Chicken and fish. And these things cost billions of dollars to import into the country. And if we can produce substantial quantity locally, it will reduce the total cost spend on importation.

For example rice, this country import about $ 1billion of rice per annum.  That is about 360 million per annum. This means that almost a billion is spent on the importation of rice per day. And Lagos consumes 50 percent of what comes into the country legally. While 100 percent of entire rice imported through land ends up in Lagos.

In fish, our consumption is about 220, 000 tonnes per annum in Lagos. In this area, we produce over 100, 000 tonnes per annum. This is because aquaculture is very common in Lagos. Our target in fish is to meet 100 percent local demands in Lagos through internal production.

We intend to make Lagos the centre of fish production in Nigeria. First we intend to meet the internal demands in Lagos state and later we will begin to transport it to other states and countries.

On Eko rice

We have a brand called Eko rice. This rice that would be sold by the state government are 18 months old from the day of production till when it finally gets to the consumer. As against the rice that are imported into the country which the minimum age of it is 10 years.

This is because after production, they store the newly produced rice in their silos after they have emptied what was left in the silos. The rice they emptied from the silos is what they sell to other countries including Nigeria. And it takes 10 years to run a complete silo.

Are the local governments involved in all these activities?

The local government are involved in all our activities. We do it in conjunction with the local government authorities. This is because everything happens in one local government or the other. They are involved in any project from the commencement till it is completed.

And in most of our projects, we have desk offices in the local government that house such project. As we engage in capacity building of the farmers, so also we are doing for our staffs both at the state and at local level.

And whenever we intend to site any project, we use comparative advantage, that is, we check for the area that has all the required elements. And any country that wants to industrialise must begin to produce its food locally.

It is one critical factor that shows the level of industrialisation of any country. Any country that cannot boast of food security will definitely have national insecurity.

In moving towards intensifying food security in Lagos, the state government has decided that rice production, processing and packaging would be a major factor in the pursuit. And agriculture featured prominently in the agenda of the state government. By 2015, we really want to produce 25 percent of what we consume in the state and we are ready to achieve this.

On the Songhai prototype project

This project, designed after the Songhai Regional Centre, Porto Novo, Benin Republic, we are observing due diligent because it is a multi-billion naira project. We are working with international agents. And lrecently, we signed the agreement with the international companies.

This is a four-year integrated agricultural development programme to be undertaken by the Lagos state government and Songhai Regional Centre, Porto Novo, Benin Republic to develop, equip and create job opportunities for farmers in the agricultural sector in the state.

Farmers in Lagos need training on how best to grow and market modern agricultural crops and to provide a good foundation for the project, the state has allocated 300 hectares of land in Ajia, Badagry, which will be used as a demonstrative regional centre of Songhai in Lagos.

Entrepreneurial thinking associated with the Songhai project will help farmers to explore many of the state‘s under-developed and under-sold agricultural sector products.

The programme will include a state survey of economic trees which are capable of producing power and a campaign to encourage farmers to plant trees with such potential.

The target audience is unemployed youths who need all the encouragement to take up agriculture as a career. The project groundwork consist training farmers in a wide range of technologies to boost the production of vegetables, rice and livestock.

The project will cost about N4 billion. The project will be completely funded by the state government. The Songhai project is a brand and we are inviting those who built the Songhai project as consultants. It will take off very soon because we have paid the first instalment which is N188 million. And the budget for the project for this year is N800 million. So the first instalment of that N800 million, N188 million was paid. The total sum will be paid in four years.

On  Cassava

Lagos has population advantage. Presently in Araga, Epe, the state government is building a high cassava flour processing plant which would be ready by November, 2012. We are going to mob-up all the cassava that is produced within Lagos and the neighbouring states.

Those that we acquire from other states will be brought into the state for processing. 90 percent of the master bakers in the country are located within Lagos. And they need flour to function effectively. So it makes sense economically to site factory  that produce their raw material closer to the user of the materials. That is why the state government is intervening.

We know that the state has problem with land but we have land in Igboye and Igbo-nla axis, Eredo LCDA, these areas were where we call our cassava belt. What will be produced from these axes cannot march the demands in the state.

That is why the state government has taken a strategic policy in acquiring 10, 000 hectares of land from four state-Oyo, Ogun, Osun and Ekiti states. The breakdown is Oyo state 3, 000 hectares, Ogun, 5, 000 hectares while Ekiti and Osun will contribute 1, 000 each. These states have indicated their willingness to part with these lands. And next week, we would be visiting these states.

These lands will be used to produce food for Lagos market. This is to meet the store capacity of this processing centre.

On vegetable

The state will very soon commission a 2, 000 square metre green house that will produce tomatoes. We also have Shoprite and other big malls in the state but it is a shame that what they sell in these malls is imported from South Africa and Kenya, whereas we can produce them in this country.

In order to bring a paradigm shift, we have test run a 200 square metre green house in Araga, Epe where we have produced tomatoes that can compete with what is imported from other countries. Now we have built something bigger green house.

And to handle this, we are training our staffs that will run the plant. Ones it is up and running, Lagos state will begin to produce tomatoes that can be compared with tomatoes from anywhere in the world. Also in Iya-Afin in Badagry, we are setting up a 50 hectares poultry estate.

This one will be run by the private sector. We have interviewed seven (7) indigenous companies who are ready to set up their own farm to produce tomatoes and other vegetables in the state. What we are doing now is to map out the lines before we allocate the lands. Through this, there more employment will be created.

BRIEF! BRIEF!! BRIEF!!!