Witness narrates how Ex-HoS, allies diverted public funds to private companies in court
Lagos to hold Farmers Fair on Sunday
By Emmanuel Awosika
Lagos State will hold the Eko City Farmers Fair and Appreciation Day on Sunday, 20 December 2020.
State Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms. Abisola Olusanya, made the announcement while addressing journalists on preparation for the fair.
Olusanya revealed that Lagosians would be able to get a 50kg bag of rice for N20,000 at the fair, adding that over 100,000 bags of rice are earmarked for sale to Lagosians during the Yuletide season.
According to the Commissioner, the fair was aimed at bridging the gap between sellers of farm produce and buyers.
“On Sunday, 20th December 2020, the State will be hosting the Christmas edition of the Eko City Farmers Fair where Lagosians can shop for their fresh farm produce at affordable prices at the Ndubusi Kanu Park, Alausa, Ikeja.
“The event will also include a short ceremony to appreciate our farmers, who have done everything in their power to ensure that we did not negatively feel the impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic on food supplies. It will also be a platform for the best of the city’s producers to meet with consumers and end-users using the traditional and innovative development methods to showcase a well organised, high-quality market to meet the consumers’ increasing demand for farm produce”, Olusanya disclosed.
She noted that many farmers lacked direct access to final consumers, which often forced them to enter unprofitable bargains with middlemen.
The farmers fair, she asserted, would solve this problem by connecting farmers directly to those searching for farm products.
She said: “Farmers in the State lack direct access to markets, and this led to the selling of their produce to middlemen at ridiculous farmgate prices. Farmers that are able to penetrate the market find it difficult to break through cartels of the market associations. Therefore, they are forced to sell at the association’s dictated prices. These challenges have restricted many of the farmers to subsistent production.”
