The Chairman of Olorunda Local Council Development Area (LCDA) in Lagos, Mr Samson Olatunde, has reiterated commitment to sustainable food production, wealth and job creation.
The Chairman gave the assurance during the 2020 World Food Day Festival organised by farmers in Olorunda LCDA, on Saturday in Aradagun, Badagry.
The theme of this year food day is “Grow, Nourish and Sustain Together”.
Olatunde said that his administration would achieve this through youth and women empowerment with significant collaboration with the private sector in promoting local food production.
“There is no doubt that the country, state and by extension, the local government needs to grow into more productive agricultural labour force.
“This becomes imperative because of rampant unemployment vacuum created by aged farmers who are retiring from active farming and the possible effects of the global food crisis,” he said.
Olatunde, however, said that the desire of his administration was to provide an enabling environment for people to have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and hygienic food.
In his welcome address, Mr Imakpo Armstrong, the leader of Olorunda Farmers’ Forum, said the World Food Day was a programme designed to achieve certain aims and objectives.
He said, “The World Food Day is a programme that intends to exhibit the existence of core professional farmers in Olorunda LCDA.
”It is a programme which will serve as a platform to prove to the whole world that Olorunda LCDA is in possession of arid, vast and fertile land that could be used to cultivate and harvest sustainable quantities of food products,” he said.
The event was preceded by a food and produce exhibition by local farmers and the Chairman patronised them by purchasing some of the produce.
