By Sunday Elijah
Lagos State Government has embarked on rehabilitation of its coconut belt to ensure sustainable production of coconut seedlings for the cultivation of no fewer than 10 million coconut trees by 2024.
State Commissioner for Agriculture, Abisola Olusanya, who disclosed this in Lagos over the weekend, explained that collaboration with Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in the project would ensure rehabilitation of coconut grooves and the creation of over 500,000 job opportunities and wealth, through training, capacity building and empowerment of youths and women in the State’s coconut value chain.
Ms. Olusanya said the collaboration becomes necessary because coconut is one of the major cash crops in the State, with Lagos producing over 80% of the country’s annual production of 285,200 metric tons, adding that the production capacity has earned Lagos the 19th position on the World Coconut producing countries.
The Commissioner noted that despite the efforts of the government in harnessing the full potentials of the tree crop, the State has only been able to access 20% of its potentials through rehabilitation and production efforts in upstream and processing, utilisation and commercialisation downstream while only meeting about 30% of the local demand.
“It is pertinent to note that the strategic five-year Agricultural Road Map of the present administration of having 10,000,000 productive Coconut Trees in Lagos State under the Coconut Value Chain will provide over 80 husked nuts per tree to a total of over 800,000,000 husked nuts per annum, currently valued at an average of ₦100 per nut with the economic value of over ₦76 Billion per annum. The figure could be tripled to a tune of ₦240 Billion worth of transaction-volume with value added annually. These figures can only be achieved if the right technical and financial support are provided.
“It is in the light of this that the State Government, through the Lagos State Coconut Development Authority (LASCODA), is collaborating with the Food and Agriculture Organisation to provide technical support in the development of the Coconut Value Chain, through a unilateral trust fund,” Olusanya said.
She stressed that the collaboration, apart from ensuring sustainable food security, through sustainable, resilient and good agricultural practices in the coconut subsector, would also ensure the promotion of development-oriented policies that support productive activities across the value chain, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalisation and growth of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, especially in the downstream sector of the value chain including access to inclusive financial services.
The Commissioner averred that the partnership would also guarantee the development of a qualitative, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure, including regional and trans-border, to support economic development and human well-being through the coconut industry.
“The collaboration will help us as a State to ensure economic development in terms of revenue generation, improved standard of living, development of the local economy through employment and wealth creation opportunities, as well as the overall environmental contribution, especially in mitigating the impacts of climate change and global warming,” she said.