Lagos, World Bank partner to create 315 young, women agric entrepreneurs

In line with its job creation drive, the Lagos State Government has in partnership with the World Bank, built crop of young and women entrepreneurs through its just concluded Commercial Agricultural Development Programme (CADP).

CADP, which was launched in 2009, was a World Bank assisted project designed to support small and medium scale commercial farmers in five particicpating states including Cross Rivers, Kaduna, Kano, Enugu and Lagos States, geared towards helping the participating states to strengthen their agricultural production, processing and marketed outputs.

Speaking at a media parley held in Lagos on Thursday as part of the CADP closing ceremony, Olayinka Onasanya, permanent secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Lagos State, said that the project which commenced in 2009, created beneficiers in poultary, rice and aqua cultuture value chains.

Onasanya, who was represented by Bolaji Balogun, said that Lagos State government bought into the project with the determination to build crop of young farmers to takeover farming from the current aging farmers in the state.

According to him, some farmers, who benefited from the programme, have been exporting their produce especially smoked fish to countries like United States, United Kingdom and Dubai.

Earlier in his welcome address, Kehinde Ogunyinka, Lagos State CADP project coordinator, said that prior to the CADP, many youths were roaming the streets joblessly, but the coming of CADP has taken many women and youths off the streets.

He said that the programme has continued to ensure that many more youths were directly indirectly employed under the programme because by creating jobs for the beneficiers, many others would be employed to earn a living in their businesses.

“The programme was introduced to Lagos State by World Bank and the state bought into the programme because it is in line with its job creation initiative. And we have about 315 beneficiers,” he said.

Statistics show that the project implementation in Lagos State was carried out in two batches with the first batch having 55 beneficiaries while the second batch had a total of 260 beneficiaries, totaling to 315 beneficiaries in all.

Also, the beneficaires were trained in Agribusinessses and Entrepreneurship at the Nigeria Instiutute of Oceanography and Marine Research in Victoria Island and Agric Youth Empowerment Scheme Training Institute, Araga, Epe.

Funds were disbursed to 315 beneficiaries across the three chains of rice, poultary and aqua cultulture. The project supported 67 poultary production beneficiaries; 79 polutary marketing beneficiaries; 45 aquaculture production beneficiaries; 33 aquaculture processing beneficiaries; 30 rice processing beneficiaries.

AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE