The Managing Director of Farm Junction, Yinka Omogoye, has affirmed that his organisation would provide support structure for farmers to address waste by providing storage facility, packaging, transportation, logistics to farmers at minimal cost, thereby increasing their return on investment. Omogoye, at a stakeholders meeting in collaboration with the Lagos State Agricultural Development Authority (LSADA), said that Farm Junction was launched to bring stakeholders in the agricultural value chain under an umbrella with the intention of bringing them to the consumers or exporters, who need their produce.
He said that the initiative would encourage farmers to produce more, which would in turn, guarantee food security for Lagos in the immediate and for the nation at large. “Food security is the only way to curb every other menace that is mitigating us as a people. If we have food security, every other thing will fall in line. Don’t be afraid to go to the farm to produce, bring it to us, we will off-take from you, process for you and we will present your product or produce to the people that will buy and pay you your money”, he assured. The Programme Manager of LSADA, Engr. Alade Adewale, in his remarks, said that the collaboration intends to ensure that there is market for farmers. He advised farmers to take advantage of the collaboration, saying “we are collaborating to ensure that there is market for our farmers so that they can produce, process, add value and have markets for their products. Then, the farmers will be encouraged to produce more”.
One of the farmers present at the meeting, Abiodun Oyelekan, commended the initiative, stating that the major challenge that farmers encountered was marketing and that when there is an organisation taking up the responsibility of giving a link from the farm straight to the market; it means farmers do not have problem again to produce. He said with the initiative, farmers in the state would not have the challenge of marketing or looking for where to sell their produce because when they produce, there is a ready market for whatever they produce. The Managing Director of Meat Embassy, Babatunde Wilkey, while responding to the initiative, admitted that it is a good initiative that would help the masses. He said the gesture would bring farmers, sellers, processors, consumers and the likes together under a platform, which would in turn, force the prices of products to come down as much as possible. “There is power in synergy, the beauty of everything in life is the numbers when we come together as one, definitely, we will be able to control the market”, he said.
He advised the government to provide an avenue where all farmers and processors can bring whatever they are producing to a hub where Nigerians can have access to buy things at a very cheapest price. The Deputy Chairman, All Farmers’ Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Lagos State Chapter, Shakin Agbayewa, stated that the initiative was good and that farmers in the state have been having issues with selling with produce, especially the perishables. He said one of the challenge was storage facility and that it is so because farmers do not have access to storage facilities and that members of the association are being encouraged to add value to their produce. He said now that Farm Junction was trying to aggregate farmers together and assist with storage facility such that the challenge will be addressed.
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