National Youth Council of Nigeria, Imota, Oba Mudashiru Agoro empower Imota residents for home-grown farming
By Omolola Dede Adeyanju
In a bid to reduce the rate of hunger and malnutrition in the Imota Community of Ikorodu, Lagos state, the National Youth Council of Nigeria, Imota Chapter has organized an Urban Farming Conference to empower and train residents on how to start home-grown farming.
The conference which was held in the CDC hall at Ori Okuta, Imota area of Ikorodu, Lagos State, on Tuesday, themed: ‘Urban Farming: To ensure security for a sustainable future’, focused on methods of starting up a sustainable home-grown farming, how to grow crops primarily with sacs, nourish the soil and ensure progressive development of plants.
Featuring the Deputy Director, Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Food system, Mrs Sholuade, a facilitator of the training session at the conference, Mrs Sholuade expressed the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Food System’s readiness to promote urban farming and address Nigeria’s food security crisis as declared by the president.
She emphasized that the initiative encourages youth to engage in farming and leverage available spaces like gardens. Citing that the First Lady of Lagos State, Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu also serves as a role model with her self-sufficient farm at the State House.
Mrs Sholuade commended NYCN for organizing such a program, reiterating the assurance from the council to follow-up, monitor progress, provide support through regular meetings and create a platform to address challenges. Nevertheless, she revealed that Funding is not currently available from the state government in respect to the program but may be provided based on future success and commitments.
However, the coordinator, National Youth Council of Nigeria, Imota branch, Comrade Adebogun Oriyomi expressed the relevance of homegrown farming, stating that the program is targeted at ensuring food sustainability as well as addressing hunger challenges in the community. “The initiative includes intellectual and material empowerment, with a nine man committee of experienced farmers to provide support for participants.”
The coordinator further stated that the council will Monitor the progress of participants over the period of 3-months and provide rewards for successful implementation. “To encourage them, we also promised to give the sum of #50,000, #30,000 and #20,000 to first, second and third runner ups who can run the Best farm for three consecutive months. He noted that Participants are hitherto encouraged to use waste materials for farming as the council will also make provisions of seedlings to them.
Furthermore, the coordinator envisaged a broader reach for the program, saying that it aims to expand beyond the current territory as well as explore ways to involve the government, such as leveraging resources and personnel from the Ministry of Agriculture, to support the initiative.
Comrade Oriyomi criticized the mindset of people who keep complaining of hunger, while running after white collar jobs when they can utilize their environment to earn a living. He encouraged the youths and young adults to think outside the box, saying that waste materials can also be used for farming and emphasized farming as a viable career for the youth in this 21st century. Hence he urged everyone to adopt sustainable farming practices.
In respect to financial investments on the initiative, the coordinator disclosed, “We invested over 300,000 Naira on this program today with support from HRM Oba Mudashiru Ajibade, Ranodu of Imota.
“The goal is to see participants harvesting crops like okra, tomato, pepper, and the likes. Also to spread the initiative to more households and We are encouraged by the enthusiasm and turnup of the youths and other participants” he added.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the nine man committee, Alhaja S.B Shuaib who is also a member of the ‘All Farmers Association of Nigeria’ discussed “Home Growing” initiative by Nigeria’s First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, encouraging household farming to reduce market dependency and combat hunger. She highlighted the use of simple materials like sacks and plastic tires for farming.
Alhaja Shuaib further addressed Challenges such as cattle grazing and pesticide issues, with a focus on government-funded solutions and the importance of patience and proper farming techniques. She enumerated the use of local seeds over genetically edited ones, citing the reliability and cost-effectiveness, and advocated for sustainable, grassroots farming practices.
Furthermore, the CDC Chairman, Imota CDA, Comrade Odumosun Rafiu Abiodun also pointed out how NYCN has exposed participants to the advantages of home-grown farming. He noted the collaboration between the CDC and NYCN, Imota branch in ensuring the mobilization of the community members for them to be beneficiaries of the initiative.
In addition, The head of Department, Agric and social services, Mrs Akintunde Kabirat highlighted most of the major challenges faced by the community as issues of funds and cow grazing destroying people’s crops. She however, stated that such cases have been in existence over time and there is hope for things to get better as time passes.
Speaking to Newsdirect, one of the participants in the conference, Azeezat Omotosho explained the impacts of the training to her and how it has changed her mindset towards Agriculture. She advised the youths not to look down on farming as a means of livelihood as it has the tendency of fetching more income than some corporate jobs.
