| credits: extension.colostate.edu
The Ikota community in Eti-Osa Local Government Council of Lagos state has embraced urban horticulture by growing its own vegetables in pots and buckets.
A statement by the Community Conservation and Development Initiatives said it was one of the activities that had grown out of its ‘Mobilising Local Governments for Climate Action’ project, organised in collaboration with Heinrich Böll Stiftung.
The main objective, according to the statement, is to create awareness, build capacity and develop common participatory positions on climate change within local governments and their communities. “Climate change will affect a number of economic sectors, including agriculture, and horticultural activities in urban areas which should be encouraged for future food security,” the Director, Programmes, CCDI, Mrs. Kofo Adeleke, said in the statement.
According to her, about 14 Ikota households have for the past six months been involved in the climate change awareness and adaptation activity to encourage and highlight the opportunities for growing vegetables in homes where space is extremely limited.
Adeleke said, “The participants, both female and male from different age range, planted pepper and okra in pots and buckets. Funds were made available for the purchase of seeds, topsoil and gardening pots, and the activity was supported by the Baale of Ikota, who has extensive farming knowledge, and local roadside horticulturalists were on hand to teach the participants how to plant the vegetable seeds in the pots.
“An initial visual presentation was made to the participants to show them how other communities around the world are able to grow vegetables and herbs in different types of urban environments where space was limited. Over the past six months, CCDI made a number of inspection visits to monitor the project and provide guidance to the participants. Momentum was built, more volunteers joined, more seeds and topsoil were added and people started to add their own broken buckets for planting use.”
She said some of the participants showed impressive initiative and were growing pineapples, yams and herbs in very small spaces in their yards, while for some of the children, it was the very first time they had seen okra and pepper plants.
Participants were encouraged to get more buckets and containers to grow more vegetables and the Baale promised assistance to anyone who needed seeds.
Adeleke said, “The overall response was very heartening and with further support and encouragement, the project has the potential to be scaled up considerably.
“One component of the project was supposed to involve the local government in providing a very small parcel of land, which could be sub-divided into small strips to demonstrate the urban allotment system for growing vegetables. Despite the urgent need for local governments to prioritise climate change adaptation, land was not made available for this.”
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NGO, Lagos community embrace horticulture