Boost for vegetable production as Dizengoff delivers 20 greenhouse units

Nigeria’s quest for food security and vegetable production has received a boost as Dizengoff Nigeria has delivered 20 greenhouse units to intensify production of the produce in Lagos.

 

The greenhouse units which Best Foods Fresh Farms took delivery of, has been hailed by experts as a big step towards efforts at achieving food security in the country. They also described it as a clear endorsement of the technology by players both in terms of production and investment.

Speaking during the formal handover, Emmanuel Ijewere, managing director, Best Foods Fresh Farms said the 20 units acquired by the company was done to strengthen its production capacity and put it in a strong position to make significant impact on the huge demand for fresh vegetables in Lagos and across the country.

“Clearly our capacity to produce more high quality vegetables will be greatly enhanced. And if you do the calculations it means we will be able to do more for our customers and in the market,” Ijewere said

Best Foods Fresh Farms which has a technical partnership with Dizengoff is one of the best known such greenhouse farms in Lagos with current production capacity estimated at 30 metric tonnes per-season.

Ijewere who also spoke on the significance of the acquisition by the firm said that “as a company we have done well.  When fully deployed, we are confident that what we have done will significantly propel and help us to play a bigger role in the nation’s food production. It is a move in the right direction.”

Meanwhile, experts have noted that whereas the country’s demand for vegetables is put at over 2.3 million metric tonnes per year, it is only able to produce just about 1.8 million metric tonnes. The greenhouse technology they say is “a potentially very viable option capable of narrowing the gap.”

Also speaking, Antti Ritvonen, CEO, Dizengoff Nigeria expressed strong optimism about the future of agriculture in the country and its potentials. “With the rapidly growing adoption of the greenhouse technology, I believe we have raised the stakes and I feel very confident about the future.

“Nigeria has potential of becoming self-reliant in vegetable production through the greenhouse technology and in the nearest future, become an exporter of high quality vegetables to other countries in the world,” Ritvonen said.

 

Josephine Okojie