Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has said the newly commissioned Fresh Food Hub in Agege will strengthen food security, reduce post-harvest losses and improve the efficiency of food distribution across the state.
Sanwo-Olu stated this on Wednesday at the official commissioning of the facility at Pen Cinema, Agege, describing it as a key component of his administration’s food systems transformation agenda.
He said Lagos, with a population approaching 25 million and limited land for agricultural production, could not afford to leave its food supply to a fragmented distribution system.
“Every city in human history has been compelled to answer one question before all others: How shall we feed our people?
“But today, here in Agege, Lagos continues to write our own answer, boldly, deliberately, and in concrete and steel,” he said.
The governor said Lagos’ food economy was valued at over N16 trillion, while more than 75 per cent of food consumed in the state was produced outside its borders.
According to him, long-distance transportation, poor storage and handling contribute to high food costs and post-harvest losses, which could reach 40 to 50 per cent.
“Food is not one sector among many; food touches every household in the state every single day. Food dictates and shapes the cost of living and the welfare of families,” Sanwo-Olu said.
He said the state launched the Lagos State Food Systems Roadmap in 2021 to address the challenge through interventions covering production, aggregation, logistics, storage, processing, financing and marketing.
Sanwo-Olu said the strategy was anchored by the Lagos Central Food Systems and Logistics Hub in Epe, which is nearing completion and is expected to be commissioned before the end of his administration.
The Epe hub, he said, would have capacity to serve more than 1,500 food trucks daily and handle over 1.5 million metric tonnes of food annually.
He added that the Agege facility was part of a network of middle-level food hubs being developed across the state, with similar projects in Mushin and Abijo already operational and others at various stages of construction in Oregun, Lagos Island, Apapa and Ikorodu.
The governor disclosed that the Mushin hub had recorded over N5 billion in transactions across 228 market days, with more than 850 registered vendors and over 7,000 direct and indirect jobs created.
Sanwo-Olu also disclosed that the Produce for Lagos Programme, backed by a N50 billion off-take guarantee fund, was designed to give farmers assured access to the Lagos market and reduce distress sales.
He said the administration was also investing in agricultural skills, noting that more than 4,000 young people had been trained under the Lagos Agripreneurship Programme.
In her welcome address, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Systems, Bisola Olusanya, said the Agege hub was designed to reduce food losses, improve traders’ working conditions, ease congestion caused by unorganised food trading and formalise the food economy.
She said the facility, developed in partnership with Origin Tech Group, has a 4,000-square-metre trading floor capable of accommodating between 350 and 400 vendors.
It also has about 1,200 square metres of dry storage with an 800-tonne capacity, 300-tonne cold storage, a dedicated seafood section, parking for 80 to 90 vehicles and 10 electric vehicle charging points.
Olusanya said the hub was projected to generate more than N5 billion in annual food transactions when fully operational.
She added that its operations would be guided by a 351-page framework covering governance, quality control, waste management, sanitation and inventory tracking, while traders would retain control over their commercial decisions.
The commissioner said full day-to-day operations would commence within six weeks after vendor onboarding and other operational arrangements.
