The Lagos State Government has produced solar-powered kiosks that would ensure easier and more effective market access for farmers, agripreneurs, and stakeholders in an eco-friendly manner in the state. The State Acting Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms. Abisola Olusanya who disclosed this at the weekend while on an inspection tour of her Ministry’s facilities at Oko-Oba, Agege, noted that the kiosks would be distributed to them at next Value Chain Empowerment Programme of the State Government later in this month.
She explained that the solar-powered kiosk was a self-functioning system that not only produces its energy but also add energy to charge other products, making it essentially environmentally friendly. According to her, the solar-powered kiosk was the brainchild of the World Bank Assisted Agro-Processing, Productivity Enhancement, and Livelihood Improvement Support (APPEALS) Project whose core interventions are food security, agro-export potentials, 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 in the value chains. “Looking at the kiosks, the build-up is very impressive; you can put your refrigerator and some cold chain elements in it.
Looking at that, it is also bringing to bear the need for the Ministry and the State Government to do much more for stakeholders especially around market access which is what these kiosks would do,” she noted. Olusanya asserted that the kiosks were potential revenue earners and savers for small businesses especially farmers with perishable food as the kiosks would help them keep their businesses open for a longer period than they would have if there was no means of electricity.
She disclosed that the kiosks, in addition to producing renewable energy would also disperse clean energy while excess power is distributed through the main grids which allow for charging of other devices such as refrigerators and other gadgets. Olusanya, also visited the LASCODA coconut seedlings production project site at Oko-Oba, Agege to assess the progress made so far in the production of urban-friendly coconut seedlings for distribution to the 57 Local Government and Local Council Development Areas for the Year 2020 Tree Planting Day.
“At the Farm Service Center, 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 14th. 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 needed to be done to ensure that that initiative is brought to bear,” Olusanya stated.