The appeal to farm in urban Lagos

Sometimes one feels that governments should set up an office of the coordinator, new ideas and innovations, at each level. Here, every Nigerian who has a brilliant idea for the government can submit it and get full consideration. This thought was spurred by an appeal made recently by the Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Systems, Ms Abisola Olusanya. It isn’t the first of such in the nation but there’s something similar whenever appeals are made: Hardly do governments state in simple clear steps how they plan to encourage the public to heed the appeal.

Now, when officials appeal to the public over an issue it shows they recognise that the cooperation of the people is needed for the government to succeed, for a public policy to succeed. It shows the government knows it doesn’t know it all. Officials don’t have all the answers where they are seated behind their desks. They alone cannot provide all the solutions to the challenges in society. However, I take note of these appeals with a view to assessing the viability, the how of getting such done, and the outcome with possible benefits for the common good.

We know Nigerians do proffer solutions in order to assist their governments. But it’s not often that solutions Nigerians profess are taken up and seen through by the government. In fact, governments at the various levels aren’t configured such that feedback from the people gets fed into the system. Even officials aren’t oriented and positively disposed towards receiving and utilising feedback. Many who have tried to pass ideas across know the hostility they face; a reason I suggest that we have an office for the purpose. Pragmatic nations do it. For feedback is essential in governance; it’s an item in the cycle we draw in political science (Pol 101) while learning how politics works.

When the Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture made her appeal, it occurred to me that she made a needed call but which implications we needed to further call attention to. She wanted households to produce part of what they eat, appealing to Lagosians to “get into some kind of urban farming. Grow something in your home that you can eat.” Her appeal may well be a starting point and, with the kind of functions her newly named ministry has, I think she has made a call that amounts to kick-starting a process. It’s a process that extends beyond what she’s said. Her kind of call can’t be an end in itself.

This is because urban farming that she appeals to people to engage in has its own chain, a value chain maybe, for food production, for the environment, as well as the community. In the end, Lagos State with its high population and the attendant challenges benefits in more ways than just producing food for consumption. I shall explain. Urban farming is the practice of cultivating crops and livestock in an urban environment.  Such farming may seem new but a closer look into the past shows it actually has a long history. City dwellers in ancient Mesopotamia set aside land for cultivation. After the WW2, what was called victory gardens became part of the cityscapes. Urban farming has now become a major focus for the purpose of agricultural sustainability. In fact, social justice advocates argue that it can provide avenues to positive change. These days more buildings are developed with the infrastructure needed to support community rooftop gardens. There is vertical farming which can transform existing urban spaces into dense centres of agricultural production.

Locally raised products are one benefit of urban farming. So when outsiders threaten to cut supplies of what they produce, they are easier to ignore. Independence in food supply is also ensured. Vertical farming allows for more production per square foot. Urban farming ensures unused spaces like warehouses are put to good use. Community gardens run by municipal or non-profit organisations can help residents build stronger ties to where they live and reduce the urban blight associated with empty lots.  While urban farming involves homeowners growing items on their premises, the United States Department of Agriculture notes that there can also be community gardens found on public land: It’s typically overseen and managed by resident volunteers. Community farms are communal growing spaces that are typically run by a non-profit organisation.

Commercial farms are run by for-profit organisations and they focus on growing niche produce, using high-efficiency techniques like vertical or soilless farming. There are also institutional farms and gardens associated with a community institution e.g. prisons, hospitals, churches, schools, etc. Such gardens seek to provide positive health, education, and lifestyle opportunities for their respective institutions. Each of these five types of urban farming can involve planting of crops, poultry, fishery etc. Doing any of these in a city like Lagos requires inputs and there are expected outputs for the individual, government and society in general. In fact, planting crops within one’s premises will need some government intervention. Why?

Not long ago, I was visiting a senior citizen. The premises had trees which provided shade needed for outdoor relaxation, but the part that impressed me was that a portion of the soil was left open and there were flowers and other plants.  I pointed out what I noticed to my host and we both agreed that it wasn’t advisable that the premises of any home should be fully covered with concrete. Most premises in Lagos have the entire soil surface covered with concrete. This is having a negative effect on the environment. A few years ago, one commissioner in Lagos State was asked by a reporter why there was so much flooding in the state. One of the things he mentioned was that homeowners mostly sealed the ground and in the event the amount of rainwater that should be taken into the soil flowed on the surface, causing flooding. This is significant for a state that is below sea level and is often subjected to flooding.

At the time the said commissioner made this observation, I noted briefly on this page that a policy requirement that would make homeowners leave a certain percentage of their premises without concrete or interlocking stones was needed. We shouldn’t just identify a problem and leave it at that. So the question arises: if most Lagos homeowners cover the soil with concrete where will they farm? We may suggest the use of sacks or other soilless means. But no one would disagree with the need to leave part of the earth in premises open for other environmental benefits. I discovered from personal experience that some plants do more excellently well when they’re planted directly in the earth. In any case, getting homeowners to have bare earth in their premises with which they engage in urban farming in Lagos State ends up bringing the individual, the government, the environment, and the society more than one benefit.

I think engaging in and supporting urban farming, when taken through the entire gamut, is a form of social re-engineering as much as the economic consideration that appears to be the focus for a city like Lagos. Each type of urban farming requires that the government provides support services such as making seeds that can do well available and offering professional advice. The government also has to regulate in order to ensure that community gardens, community farms, commercial farms, and institutional farms and gardens don’t violate environmental laws. Moreover, governments can encourage urban farmers to link up, have an association, as well as have schoolchildren visit urban farms on excursions for educational purposes.

This is beneficial not only in urban Lagos but in every city in Nigeria where most children have never seen practically how crops and livestock are raised. Plus we may end up inspiring a new generation of agriculture enthusiasts. Furthermore, the Ministry of Agriculture should select the best home farms in each local government area and pay owners a stipend for visits undertaken by schoolchildren. It becomes another form of earning within the city. This may further encourage more homeowners to put their premises to beneficial uses as they grow food, help educate children, help keep the environment conserved, as well as form a new community of urban farmers.