Farmers are the bedrock of any organised society and they deserve more, declared Ms. Abiola Olusanya, the Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture, during a roadwalk exercise to sensitise Lagosians about the pivotal role of farmers to the socio-economic development of the nation. This came on the heels of the forthcoming 2022 World Food Day, a mandate by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations to encourage action on food insecurity.

Themed Leave No One Behind, Better Production, Better Nutrition, a Better Environment and a Better Life,” the Lagos State Government, supported by leading corporations such as British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation (BATNF), Stanbic IBTC Bank, among others is poised to repurpose, adopt new policies and programmes that will foster the sustainable production of nutritious foods and promote farmers’ participation. The Lagos Food Fair/World Food Day will hold on Sunday, 16 October, 2022 at the Police College, Ikeja, Lagos.

The Commissioner, speaking further, said: “I don’t think we understand the importance of what farmers do for us. I think as Lagosians, most of us believe that we have the entitlement to food. We don’t understand the backbone and backbreaking work that it takes for the farmers to produce, get to the market and for you to be able to buy it, prepare and feed yourself. The farmers go through a lot. If you look at crops from farm to plate, usually you will have nothing less than seven middlemen between the farmer and the final consumers.”

Ms. Olusanya explained that it was regrettable that farmers made the least margin and for that reason, it became discouraging to continue to work. She urged the Federal Government to set a day aside as public holiday to celebrate the contribution of farmers to development of the nation, citing Ghana, which set aside December 6 of every year as Farmers’ Day, as a model. She further disclosed that beyond declaration of a public holiday, the Ghanaian government recognises the best farmers in the country annually and for that reason, when you see a Ghanaian farmer, he will tell you that he is proud of his work. She also maintained that farmers are the bedrock of any society and deserve to be respected, appreciated, celebrated and recognised.

Ms. Olusanya stressed that farmers need to be celebrated like teachers, adding that without farmers and producers, the nation would have nothing. “Imagine if every farmer decides to leave that line of work and go into telecommunication, technology or get into some sort of business, there will be no food. For these people to continue in this line of work, it means that they have persevered, and for that reason, the entire nation should applaud the farmers. It takes a lot of effort as a government to continue to give incentive to support farmers to do what they do,” she said.

Lashone Link Farms, Dangote Sugar and Refinery and others would be sponsoring events to celebrate farmers. In addition, about 10,000 farmers would participate in the event.

Ayodele Johnson

Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.