The Lagos State government, under the leadership of Governor Sanwo-Olu, has allocated a staggering N250 million towards the implementation of its groundbreaking five-year Coconut Value Chain Upgrade Strategy.
The announcement was made by Abisola Olusanya, the Commissioner of Agriculture, during a high-profile stakeholders’ meeting held on Thursday in Lagos.
The allocated funds, constituting the first tranche of an estimated four million dollars earmarked for the comprehensive strategy, will propel initiatives aimed at harnessing the economic potential of coconut water and its utilization as industrial raw materials.
The workshop, organized collaboratively by the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Lagos State Coconut Development Authority (LASCODA), Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), and Small and Medium Scale Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), served as a platform to outline the ambitious vision.
Ms. Olusanya highlighted that the five-year plan was conceived using the Agri-Food Systems Transformation Accelerator (ASTA) of the United Nations, backed by an initial investment of N4 million.
The genesis of this strategy traces back to 2021 when the Lagos government sought technical support from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations for the development of a robust Coconut Value Chain Analysis and Upgrade Strategy.
“The recent study on the value chain by FAO shows that 90 per cent of the imported nuts from West African countries pass through Lagos State to other states of the federation,” emphasized Ms. Olusanya, underlining Lagos State’s pivotal role as a hub for coconut production.
She further revealed that Nigeria, ranking 19th among over 92 coconut-producing countries globally, witnesses Lagos State contributing approximately 70 per cent to the national production of coconut and its products.
The workshop, which also aimed to raise awareness and promote the economic and health significance of the coconut value chain, signifies a pivotal step towards revitalizing the values associated with coconut water and its myriad of allied products.
With the governor’s approval of the funds for the first year of the project, Lagos State is poised to chart new heights in the realm of sustainable agricultural development and economic diversification.