The Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture has handed over the Smart Aquaponics and Poultry System (SAP-Sys) units, a component of the Lagos Agricultural Scholars’ Programme (LASP) to six schools, as part of efforts to enhance food production and security through active youth participation in agriculture.
The SAP-Sys units, which are solar-powered modern, innovative integrated farm technologies for rearing Aquaculture, Hydroponics and Poultry simultaneously, were installed in four public secondary schools, one private secondary school and one correctional centre.
The schools are – Lagos City Senior College, Sabo, Yaba; Igbobi College, Yaba; Omole Senior Grammar School, Omole Phase 1, Ojodu; Lagos State Model Junior Secondary School, Meiran, Agege; Anthony Village Senior Grammar School, Anthony and Special Correctional Centre for Boys, Oregun.
LASP is a component of the Ministry’s Youth Empowerment Scheme designed to develop the interest of secondary school students in agriculture through exposure to modern agricultural skills, while equipping them with sound practical knowledge of agriculture as a complement to the theoretical aspect taught in the classroom in the short-term, and enhancing food production, in the long run.
The Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms. Abisola Olusanya, said the initiative was borne out of the need to infuse agriculture with technology to grow food. “It is one thing to teach students agriculture in class, it is another thing to teach them to practicalise with plastics and bottles.
“Agriculture has taken a major leap as a result of digitalisation and technology. There is a lot of money to generate in agric, countries like Zimbabwe have their economies rooted in agric, the US economies too is also rooted in agric. China has done a lot of agricultural revolution in the last 20 years. Agriculture is the space to look for millionaires.
“This is a generation that should make agriculture a mainstay. The Scholar’s Programme is expected to be a lasting initiative, to be a space for infusion of technology, passion and innovation. It is important for our students and teachers to imbibe technology into agric. We want our students to see that it is a good enterprise, it is a business that requires patience, but a generative enterprise.”
Olusanya, who noted that the initiative is in collaboration with Agricity, a young dynamic group of people, said in collaboration with Agric Extension Officers, they’ll assist the agric teachers and the students practicing agriculture.
“This is not just a project that we just put edifice, provide inputs and we just walk away, it is a marriage between us, agricity and the school where the facility is situated. So, we expect that the school would also take the responsibility to ensure that this is run sustainably.
“More importantly, this is more like a 360 degrees waste reticulation system. The Aquaponics for instance – where the fish are being produced, the waste water should feed the hydroponics – the soilless vegetable farming, even the waste from the poultry should be used in form of fertiliser that can be reutilised within the premises of the school.
“We want it to be part of the curriculum that every month our extension officers are here to showcase new methodologies they have also garnered from across the country and outside the country and bring it to the students and teachers. “
