Kunle Adelabu
An agric – entrepreneur and one of the beneficiaries of the N100milion grant by the Lagos State Government, Ms. Arinola Okeoow, has said that the grant provided would assist her in expanding her farming business.
In a chat with THE IMPACT after receiving a N5milion grant as one of the 26 finalists of the Agrithon competition out of the 316 business case entries.
The grants were presented at the Lagos AgrInnovation Summit 1.0, themed; “Shaping Sustainable Agricultural and Food Systems For the next Generation,” held at Marcelina’s Place, G.R.A, Ikeja, Lagos.
Arinola, a media professional who ventured into the agricultural sector four years ago, based on her interest to diversify and also influenced by her dad who is a scholar in the field of agriculture, said she has gained unimaginable experience on the Agrinnovation platform, facilitated by the Commissioner for Agriculture, Lagos State, Ms, Abisola Olusanya.
The young agri-preneur narrates, “Last year November when a representative of the Honourable Commissioner Abisola Olusanya, reached out to invite me to a meeting which was the launch of the Lagos Agrinnovation Club, though, familiar with the HC herself, but I was not sure what the club would entail.
“I attended in good faith and when she told us the idea behind the club, the vision and what she aimed to achieve, I was blown away.
“I have gained so much in just one year of being a founding member of the club and yesterday, I won a grant of 5,000,000 naira.
“It’s my fourth year in Agribusiness and my company had plans to expand and scale up in 2025 and the major question has been where to get the money from”, she said.
Appreciating the Lagos State Government, especially the Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Systems, Arinola said that the grant came at the time when she was planning expansion and added that it would bring about more efficiency into her business.
“I am super thankful to the HC for being a woman of her word. She told us the Government would support us through her Ministry and she made sure it happened. A special thanks to the administration of the Governor, Mr Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu and his Deputy for keying into the idea of the Lagos Agrinnovation Club and for ensuring that this was done excellently.
She told The IMPACT the grant was not the only benefit she has gained but added that: “Membership of the club has given her access to mentors that helped her company solve challenges it was battling with in business and also helped her to build her pitch to enable her apply for more grants.”
