P.O.Box 2146
Ikeja, Lagos.
6th September, 1997.

The Commissioner
Ministry of Agriculture
Alausa.
Dear Sir,
THE LOW LEVEL OF FOOD PRODUCTION IN THE STATE
I am writing you this letter as an indigene of Lagos State who has a deep sense of commitment and responsibility to my people. In the first place, I wish to thank you and your colleagues very sincerely for the good job you are doing in the state since you were appointed Commissioner for Agriculture.
However, wish to tell you that the level of food production in the state is declining. There is food shortages in the market. People cannot see most food items to buy even in their season. When some of these food items are available, their prices are outrageous due to low production. For instance, a bag of rice which we used to buy at one thousand five hundred Naira now costs three thousand Naira and you will agree with me that this is the season for rice harvest. The same thing applies to other food items like yam, beans and onions. At times, one can even have the money but these food items are not available to buy.
There are many factors which are responsible for the low level in food production in the state. Nowadays, many young men and women do not find agriculture or farming as an occupation to be involved. Many young school leavers who should have taken to farming are now rushing to our cities for white collar jobs. These youths find farming too labourious because crude methods of farming are still being used in the state.
Secondly, there is no capital for the small number of farmers in the state who are still interested in farming to expand their farms. They do not have colaterals to secure loans from banks and finance houses. There is nothing like aid or grants from the government which can assist these farmers.
As a result of this, the few farmers in the state cannot go into large scale farming, What they make do with is subsistence farming which can only provide food for their family alone. These farmers should be assisted to pool their resources together so that they can practise large scale farming.
However, there are lots of measures which the government can take to ensure that there is sufficient food in the state. One of the measures is that government should give loans to farmers. This can be in form of money or inputs like equipment and pesticides. Once our government does this. I am sure that our farmers will put the loans into maximum use by expanding their farms.
Secondly. your ministry should embark on mass campaign on the need to go back to the farm to produce plenty of food. The government should give agriculture a priority. A lot of money should be voted for the improvement of agriculture in the state. This will make it possible for your ministry to assist the farmers by giving out loans and agricultural inputs.
Finally, the farmers should be encouraged to come together and practice co-operative farming. This will give them the opportunity to pool their resources together for large scale farming. I am sure that if you can look into these suggestions the production of food in the state will be increased and food will be within affordable prices for several families.
Yours faithfully.
(Signature)
Farayola Dele.