Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Thursday officially launched the Agro-Processing, Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support (APPEALS) Project’s Women and Youth Empowerment Programme (WYEP), empowering 1,786 farmers with N3,635,580,000 seed capital to start an agriculture-based venture in three value chains of aquaculture, rice and poultry.

The 1,786 farmers, including women, youths and Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) were empowered under the APPEALS Project to execute their approved Business Investment Plan, which has a provision for the employment of at least one person.

APPEALS Project is a tripartite agreement between the Lagos State Government, the Federal Government and the World Bank.

Speaking during the presentation of cheques worth N3.6billion to 1,738 beneficiaries of APPEALS Project at the Blue Roof, Agidingbi, Lagos, Governor Sanwo-Olu reiterated his administration’s commitment to providing an enabling environment for agricultural productivity and new employment opportunities.

The Governor said the construction of 13.16 kilometers of Farm Access Roads embarked upon by APPEALS Project in four locations and farming clusters namely; Araga Farm Settlement, Igbodu and Poultry Cluster in Epe; Erikorodo Poultry Estate in Ikorodu and Afowo in Badagry, would be completed by June 2022.

He said: “We are strongly committed to enhancing the agricultural productivity of small and medium-scale farmers in Lagos State, and improving value addition along with our agricultural value chain, which are the core objectives of the Lagos APPEALS project.

“Agriculture offers our people, especially our youths, an opportunity to make a difference, especially through effective deployment of technology in the sector, for improved productivity and the attainment of our food security and safety goals on one hand, and our job creation agenda on the other. I am a strong believer that the increased involvement of young Nigerians in agriculture will help tackle various long standing challenges facing the sector.

Source:- Leadership Ng

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