Lagos and Niger states’ governments formally signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to facilitate the production and exchange of food items.
Governors Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos) and Umaru Bago (Niger) signed the “Produce-for-Lagos” initiative this Wednesday.
The “Produce-for-Lagos” initiative aims to position Niger state as a hub for diverse food production, encompassing paddy, tubers, legumes, and grains, while Lagos solidifies its role as a well-organized market for these products.
The MoU ensures that farmers in Niger state, recognized as a leading paddy rice producer in Nigeria, will have a reliable market for their produce in Lagos.
Lagos Commissioner for Agriculture, Abisola Olusanya, highlights that the collaboration is an extension of the federal government’s effort to guarantee food security in the country.
“The partnership agreement signed between the two governors is part of the efforts the state governors are also putting towards ensuring the declaration made by Mr President on the emergency of food security,” Olusanya said
“This collaboration is a very simplified one. Lagos is working on its areas of core competence and advantage with its organised market and Niger state is also capitalising on its comparative advantage which is the land mass. Niger State has the largest land mass in Nigeria and over 85% of its land is arable.
“It is a marriage made in heaven. It is a function of production meeting market and vice versa.”
