The British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation (BATNF) has reiterated its commitment to contributing to food security through the sponsorship of agricultural programmes for small holder farmers across Nigeria.
The commitment is intended to assist Nigeria in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1, 2, 6, 8, 10 and 13, which provides for the need to improve human living conditions through a healthy diet and promote action against hunger.
Board Director, BATN Foundation, Odiri Erewa-Meggison, stated this during the 5th edition of the Lagos Farm Fair, which held recently in Lagos State.
The Lagos Farm Fair is an initiative under “Wealth is Here,” which is aimed at ensuring food adequacy and sufficiency.
The Board Director, represented by Ruth Owojaiye, said the event which had its theme as “Water is Life, Water is Food; Leave No One Behind” is geared towards taking actionable steps both by the government and the organised private sector in ensuring food security, which provides that foods are made affordable and accessible within the State.
He informed that BATN Foundation has installed 100 solar-powered borehole facilities (20,000-liter capacity) with over 300,000 beneficiaries and irrigation kits to smallholder farmers on over 500 acres of land to support dry season farming and boost their income in five years.
“BATN Foundation, since its inception in 2002, has supported the Federal and State Governments in agricultural development programs and has invested over two billion naira in supporting rural smallholder farmers in the production of food crops, like cassava, rice, and maize; and in aquaculture and livestock.
“So far, we have reached over 1.3 million beneficiaries, and we expect to double that in the next 10 years through increased support to smallholder farmers across the 36 states of the federation and the FCT.
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“The BATNF partnership with the Lagos state government is in tandem with achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals 1, 2, 6, 8, 10 and 13, which ultimately aim to improve human living conditions through a healthy diet and promote action against hunger in the state. This year’s fair has been able to support over 600 smallholder farmers,” the Board Director stated.
Speaking, Executive Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, emphasized the need for collaborative efforts and innovation to sustainably scale up agricultural production to meet demand in the state.
He also disclosed that a central food logistics hub will be completed next year, which is intended to reduce waste and loss.
He said: “Farming is an important component of our government’s activities. We need to grow what we eat and eat what we grow. While we have collaborated with some major agricultural states within the country, we are also looking for independent paddy rice farmers across the federation to raise paddy supply at Lagos Rice Mill.
“We need a lot of paddies to meet production capacity. It doesn’t matter how much paddy rice they have; we are ready to take it up. This is calling on paddy growers across the country to key into this opportunity”.
On her part, the Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms. Abisola Olusanya, noted the importance of the event as it was held in the wake of critical food security issues facing the country. She said the issues required urgent actions to scale up food production across the various value chains.
“Not only is Lagos playing a frontline role in the aqua farming industry, we are also key players in the production of other crops and edible produce. This year’s commemoration of World Food Day is to come out and encourage our farmers and create a platform for them to be aware of all the incentives and interventions we have created for them,” the Commissioner said.
BATN Foundation has partnered consistently over the years with the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Stanbic IBTC Bank to sponsor the World Food Day Lagos Farm Fair celebration, a platform designed to create market linkage to farmers as we recognize the integral part they play in nation-building.
