Agriculture
THE Lagos State Government has produced solar-powered kiosks that will ensure easier and more effective market access for farmers, agripreneurs and stakeholders in an eco-friendly mode.
The state Acting Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms Abisola Olusanya, made this known during an inspection tour of her ministry’s facilities at Oko-Oba, Agege, in Lagos on Sunday.
She said that the kiosks would be distributed to farmers during Value Chain Empowerment Programme of the state government on July 28.
She explained that the solar-powered kiosk was a self-functioning system which not only produced its own energy but also additional energy to charge other products, making it essentially environmental-friendly.
According to her, the solar- powered kiosk was the brain child of the World Bank Assisted Agro-Processing, Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support (APPEALS) Project, whose core interventions are food security, agro-export potential and livelihood improvement.
“The APPEALS project which is being spearheaded by our Programmes Coordinator here under the World Bank Assisted Programme has continued to put Lagos State on the map.
“They have made some kiosks solar-powered, which we have come to see and inspect. The kiosks are supposed to aid our value chains empowered programme which is taking place sometime this July to see how that can also help our stakeholders.
“The build-up of the kiosks is very impressive; you can put your refrigerator and some cold chain elements in it.
“It is also bringing to bear the need for the ministry and the state government to do much more for stakeholders especially, around market axis which is what these kiosks will do,” she said.
Olusanya said that the kiosks were potential revenue earners and served small businesses, especially farmers with perishable food.
She said that the kiosks would help them keep their businesses open for a longer period of time than they would have if there was no means of electricity.
Olusanya explained that the kiosks, in addition to producing renewable energy would also disperse clean energy while excess power was distributed through the main grids which allowed for charging of other devices such as refrigerators and other gadgets.
She also visited the Lagos State Coconut Development Authority (LASCODA) Coconut Seedlings Production Project site at Oko-Oba, Agege.
She said the visit was to assess the progress made so far in the production of urban-friendly coconut seedlings for distribution to the 57 Local Governments and Local Council Development Areas for the year 2020 Tree Planting Day.
“At the Farm Service Centre, we went to see the activities of the Coconut Development Authority, with the initiative of the tree planting exercise which is to commence on July 14.
“The idea at the beginning of the year was to plant over 114,000 coconut trees.
“For that to happen, seed nuts were procured, planted and in a space of six to nine months, we should have seedlings that we should be able to distribute to our 57 local governments across the state.
“The essence of this exercise is first and foremost to see how far we have gone in that direction and then to see what else needs to be done to ensure that the initiative is brought to bear,” Olusanya said.
NAN
– July 05, 2020 @ 18:25 GMT
Tags: Lagos govt produces eco-friendly solar-powered kiosks for farmers
