No fewer than 200 poultry farmers have participated in a three-day capacity-building workshop on poultry production and management organised by the Lagos State Agricultural Development Authority (LSADA) in collaboration with the British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation (BATNF).
The training, tagged “Chicks to Plate”, commenced on Tuesday, August 4, and ended on Thursday, August 6, at the LSADA office in the Oko-Oba area of Agege, Lagos.
The programme was declared open by the Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Systems, Ruth Abisola Olusanya.
In her keynote address, delivered by Mrs Aramide Ganzallo, the commissioner said the training was part of the state government’s efforts to strengthen food security through improved household nutrition and equip farmers with the knowledge required to increase productivity.
She said the decision to focus on poultry production was timely and strategic, given the sector’s potential to improve food security, create employment and generate sustainable income.
“The decision to focus on poultry production is both timely and strategic, given its significant potential to enhance food security, improve household nutrition, create employment, and generate sustainable income,” she said.
Olusanya noted that poultry farming remained one of the most viable agricultural enterprises, offering smallholder farmers, women and youths opportunities for economic empowerment through the adoption of modern production practices.
“This intervention is expected to strengthen the poultry value chain by improving production efficiency, encouraging enterprise development, increasing the availability of quality eggs and poultry meat, and reducing production constraints faced by smallholder farmers,” she added.
In her opening remarks, LSADA’s Programme Manager, Aderonke Toju-Tubi, said the programme began in 2018 with training in fish farming before being rebranded to focus on poultry production and management.
She said the rebranding was designed to address challenges confronting smallholder poultry farmers while supporting the state government’s efforts to increase local poultry production, improve livelihoods and strengthen food security.
“The project has been rebranded as ‘Chicks to Plate’ to focus on poultry production and management. This strategic shift is intended to address the challenges confronting smallholder poultry farmers while supporting the State Government’s efforts to increase local poultry production, improve livelihoods, and strengthen food security,” Toju-Tubi said.
She added that the current edition would provide practical and technical training to 200 poultry farmers involved in broiler and layer production across Lagos State.
According to her, 40 participants would be selected at the end of the training to receive empowerment support to expand and improve their poultry enterprises.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Systems, Emmanuel Audu, represented by Mrs Fola Idowu, said demand for poultry products in Nigeria continued to outpace domestic production.
He noted that Lagos, with its rapidly growing population, accounted for a significant share of the country’s poultry consumption, creating an opportunity to expand local production, strengthen food security and stimulate economic growth.
“Nigeria’s demand for poultry products continues to exceed domestic production, while Lagos, with its rapidly growing population, accounts for a significant proportion of the country’s poultry consumption,” he said.
Audu said equipping farmers with modern production techniques, improved management practices, sound biosecurity measures and agribusiness skills would enhance productivity and product quality while creating sustainable employment and increasing household incomes.
Also speaking, BATNF’s Project Officer, Adetola Oniyelu, said the training was designed to equip beneficiaries with the necessary skills for effective poultry farming and, by extension, improve their productivity.
