World Bank Commits N75Bn to Agric in Nigeria

The World Bank spent $380 million (N75.24 billion) on the development of agriculture in Lagos and some other states in the past eight years, the Lagos State government said yesterday.

Mr Gbolahan Lawal, commissioner for Agriculture and Cooperatives,  said at a ministerial press briefing on activities of the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives to mark the winding up of the Governor Babatunde Fashola administration.

Giving the breakdown of the World Bank expenditure, Lawal said $180 million was spent on Commercial Agriculture Development Project (CADP) while $200 million was spent on the National Fadama Development Project (FADAMA).

He added that the $200 million Fadama grant was accessed by six states while the $180 million CADP grant was accessed by five states, including Lagos.

Lawal said as a result of the performance of Lagos State in the World Bank assisted project, the state was selected among six others to withdraw from the $25 million grant from the World Bank through the federal government for the year 2015.

The commissioner said about 3,000 birds were killed by the recent avian influenza flu (bird flu) outbreak in the state, adding that there was currently no incident of bird flu in Lagos.