Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State on Sunday said leaders must evolve new methods to address the negative impact of climate change on food security.
The governor added that it had become imperative to boost food production given the rate of population growth, particularly in developing nations.
Ambode, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Tunji Bello, spoke at the 2016 World Food Day celebration at the Johnson Agidi Agricultural Complex, Agege.
He said, “As a global community faced with the challenge of climate change, we must all participate actively in the global efforts to mitigate its effects through research and enlightenment of farmers on the need to adapt to the new reality.”
The governor said the Lagos State Government had been at the forefront of the campaign for positive actions to protect the environment against the negative effects of climate change.
According to him, some of the initiatives already adopted include the annual tree planting and the various enlightenment programmes.
“In the area of agriculture, various strategies are being implemented, including the adoption of methods that will ensure continuous farming activities throughout the year with or without rainfall.
“Several clusters of greenhouses have been erected in various zones of the state with the recent one being set up at the Iyaafin Vegetable Estate in Badagry.
“In these greenhouses, rain fed cultivation of food crops is eliminated as water is supplied to cultivated seeds or vegetative propagates through appropriate methods of irrigation, including drip and sprinkle, among others,” he added.
Ambode commended farmers for their commitment and perseverance, adding that the need to accord agriculture the desired attention was increasingly becoming self evident.
He said his administration would continue to support the agricultural sector through incentives and other measures that would enhance greater productivity.
The Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Toyin Suarau, said the passion of the present administration to ensure food security in the face of climate change had been demonstrated through a number of innovations meant to prevent food shortage.
Source: Punch
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