In what is targeted at strengthening food security and improving the efficiency of food distribution across Lagos, Nigeria’s arguably most populous state, the government on Wednesday commissioned a Mid-Level Agro-Produce Hub at Pen Cinema, Agege.
The latest fresh food hub sits on approximately 7,000 square metres, with a 4,000-square-metre trading floor capable of accommodating between 350 and 400 vendors. It has approximately 1,200 square metres of dry storage with a capacity of about 800 metric tonnes, alongside 300 metric tonnes of cold storage, giving it considerable capacity for preservation and management of fresh produce. The facility also includes an expanded, purpose-built seafood section, with parking for about 90 vehicles to support circulation and logistics, and could handle foods worth over N5 billion annually.
At the commissioning yesterday, the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said it was designed to shorten food supply chains, reduce post-harvest losses, improve produce handling and make food distribution more efficient in Lagos.
According to the governor, Lagos’ population of over 25 million people and its dependence on food produced outside the state made it necessary to transform the entire food system, from production and aggregation to logistics, processing and marketing.
According to him, more than 70 percent of food consumed in Lagos was produced outside the state, exposing consumers to high transportation costs, supply disruptions, post-harvest losses and price volatility.
He noted that the Agege hub was part of a network of mid-level agro-produce facilities being developed across Lagos. He cited the Fresh Food Hub in Mushin, commissioned in December 2023, which has recorded transactions worth more than N4 billion across 228 market days, with over 850 registered vendors and more than 7,000 direct and indirect jobs created.
Sanwo-Olu also disclosed that the Lagos Central Food Systems and Logistics Hub at Ketu-Ereyun, Epe, was at an advanced stage and would be commissioned before the end of his administration. He said the flagship facility would have modern storage, processing, quality-control and logistics infrastructure, with capacity to handle over 1.5 million metric tonnes of food annually.
The governor added that construction was ongoing at Opebi and Bombata, while locations had been identified in Ikorodu, Apapa, Festac and the Lekki axis.
He said the state had trained over 125,800 farmers and fishermen, while more than 4,000 youths had benefited from the Lagos Agripreneurship Programme. Sanwo-Olu urged traders, farmers and aggregators to take ownership of the Agege hub and ensure it delivers its intended benefits to Lagos residents.
Abisola Olusanya, the state Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Systems, said produce would move into the hub through farmers, aggregators, processors, suppliers and bulk dealers, and from there through commissioned agents, retailers and institutional buyers to the consumer, with cold and dry storage providing the ability to preserve produce where immediate sale is neither necessary nor desirable.