The Lagos State Government has begun the training of another set of 200 agripreneurs
under the Lagos Agripreneurship Programme (LAP) and the Graduate Internship Placement Programme (GIPP).
Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms. Abisola Olusanya, who declared the training open at the Agricultural Training Institute, Araga, Epe disclosed that,the programme was a partnership between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment.
She also said participants were drawn from the already existing pool of the Graduate Internship Placement Programme (GIPP).
Olusanya further stated that in order to drive food security, there is a need to place such vision in the hands of the right people, who already have theoretical knowledge in agriculture and related fields, “This is LAP VIII. You are the first set for the Year 2021. Other batches that have gone through this year were actually for the Year 2020. I also think that you are the most fortunate batch because this is the first batch that is a combination of both the Lagos Agripreneurship Programme of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Graduate Internship Placement Programme from the Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment“.
“We have started the partnership with the Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment around the Graduate Internship Placement Programme (GIPP) to draw from the already existing pool in order to take the agripreneurs that we want. It is one thing to empower people and train them in agriculture, but we need to understand that to drive food security and to place it in the hands of the right people, it has to be those who already have a theoretical knowledge around it“, she stated.
The Commissioner explained that when the right resources are deployed around practicality, the maximum impact would be seen, stressing that the GIPP will take from the pool those who had agriculture training in university, polytechnics and colleges because their background knowledge puts them miles ahead of those who don’t have any experience in agriculture.
Olusanya pointed out that some of the benefits that accrue to the GIPP would also transcend and dovetail to the LAP beneficiaries, adding that instead of the three-month internship for LAP, the two batches would be synchronised into a six-month internship for everyone.
She disclosed that after the outstanding set of LAP beneficiaries have been trained, the Ministry would no longer conduct the recruitment and selection exercise because the GIPP Platform will, henceforth, provide the pool of participants in the Lagos Agripreneurship Programme for internship and movement to the State’s Food Production Centre in Avia, Badagry for incubation.
The Commissioner noted hiwedout that empowerment of participants will depend on performance, saying “A lot of people have gone through LAP from LAP I to LAP VII, which runs to thousands of people, but only 300 were empowered. From the 300, we had to take from Agri-YES Courses Four, Five and Six to ensure that they also get some benefits. So, if you put your heart, body and soul into this Programme, you will reap the benefits”.
“We want to see every agripreneur that is serious about this training come out as a full-fledged businessman or woman in the agricultural space”, Olusanya said.