On November 1, 2024, Lagos Food Bank Initiative partnered with AIICO Insurance Plc to support the beneficiaries of its Family Farming program, supplying them with crucial resources for establishing backyard farms. Beneficiaries from Papa Ashaffa Community in Agege received items such as cages, chicks, feed, multivitamins, antibiotics, and snails, all aimed at enhancing their capacity to grow and sustain their own food sources.

The outreach aimed to bolster food security and foster self-sufficiency by empowering these households to set up small-scale poultry and snail farms. The LFBI team, alongside dedicated volunteers, provided hands-on guidance, covering the essentials of farm setup and maintenance, ensuring beneficiaries had the knowledge needed for a successful start.

In her address, a representative from AIICO Insurance Plc, Abimbola Shobanjo, Head of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability, highlighted the program’s significance, emphasizing that beyond immediate food support, empowering individuals to sustain themselves is key in the current economic climate. She commended the Lagos Food Bank’s commitment to empowering vulnerable communities, underlining the importance of providing the tools for long-term resilience.

The Founder/Executive Director of the food bank, Dr. Michael Sunbola, expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the partners for another successful partnership with their organization for a community-centered project. He stated that partnerships such as this is important in building resilient households and communities, especially in the face of the many socio-economic challenges nationwide. He also reinstated the food bank’s unwavering commitment to alleviating hunger, malnutrition and poverty affecting the populace in low-income communities through its strategic initiatives.

Upon receiving her start-up materials and guidance to begin a successful backyard farm, a beneficiary of the distribution and resident in the above-mentioned community, Mrs. Ajoke, a widow of three children, appreciated the food bank and their partners for the items received, stating that it was only less than a month that she attended a two-day comprehensive training at the food bank, citing her excitement in starting this new venture that is poised to set her up for the sustainability of her household.

In alignment with SDGs 1 and 2 (No poverty and Zero Hunger respectively) the Family Farming initiative of the food bank tackles food insecurity and poverty by training women and youth on urban backyard farming of chickens, snails and vegetables, and supplying them with the necessary start-up materials to provide them with access to nutritious fresh farm products for consumption and enterprise, improving their nutritional intake and household income.