THE Lagos state government has awarded N100 million in grants to 26 young agripreneurs at the maiden edition of Agrinnovation, a platform organised by the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Food Systems, in conjunction with the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), and the Eko Innovation Centre (EIC).
Tagged: ‘Shaping Sustainable Agriculture and Food System for the Next Generation’, the gesture, designed to foster meaningful conversations, collaboration, and groundbreaking innovations within the agricultural sector, also reiterates the government’s commitment to boosting food security and production in the state.
In his address, the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by his Chief of Staff, Mr. Tayo Ayinde, stated that the state will not stop until she achieves food security and production serving as an example to other parts of the nation and Africa. He also described the initiative as a symbol of what the state can achieve when it trusts the youth to lead and supports them in doing so.
The winners, who emerged from startups that participated in the grand finale of the competition, were given different sums of money ranging from N7 million to N1 million each, to scale up their agric ventures and projects.
In her remarks, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Systems, Lagos State, Abisola Olusanya, explained that the summit was designed essentially for young agripreneurs and those into food-related systems.
“It’s meant for those in e-commerce, logistics, food chain, food storage provisions, those into crop production, livestock farming, and even into culinary stuffs,” she stated.
According to her, the first edition of the Lagos Agrinnovation Summit is aimed at laying the foundation for intensive food security intervention.
“The summit is for young people who are into agriculture and encourage them to grow in the agribusiness space,” she stated.
One of the finalists and beneficiaries of the grant, Jumamai Abalaka, founder and COO of PricePally, who won N7 million expressed gratitude to the state government stating that the grant will assist in taking her business to the next level.
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