Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has inaugurated the Agege Fresh Food Hub as part of efforts to strengthen food security and improve food distribution across the state.
The facility is designed to provide modern infrastructure for food trading, storage and logistics while reducing food losses, improving market access for farmers and creating opportunities for traders and other participants in the agricultural value chain.
Sanwo-Olu described the hub as a critical component of his administration’s strategy to strengthen the state’s food system, saying food security was central to Lagos’ development, stability and prosperity.
He said the state’s food economy was valued at more than N1.6 trillion, while more than 75 per cent of food consumed in Lagos was produced outside the state and transported through complex and fragmented supply chains.
The governor said the situation made it necessary for the government to address not only food production but also aggregation, transportation, storage, processing, financing, regulation and distribution.
“Food security is not just a production challenge; it is a system challenge. “We must aggregate better, move food faster, store food better, process food better, finance it better and regulate better,” Sanwo-Olu said.
He said his administration was developing an integrated food system that would connect farmers, aggregators, processors, logistics operators, traders and consumers from the point of production to the dining table.
According to him, the Agege facility is part of a wider network of food hubs being established across Lagos to bring modern food infrastructure closer to communities and improve the efficiency of food distribution.
He said the state had already inaugurated the Fresh Food Hub in Abijo and was developing similar facilities in other parts of Lagos as part of efforts to create a connected food distribution network.
“The long-term objective is unambiguous: We want to have structured modern food hubs in almost every part of Lagos State so that no community is left outside the network,” he said.
The state was also complementing infrastructure investment with human-capital development through the training of farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs and programmes aimed at encouraging young people to pursue careers in agriculture.
He said more than 4,000 young people had been engaged through the Lagos Agripreneurship Programme, while agricultural programmes had also been introduced in schools to expose students to opportunities in the sector.
Government alone could not guarantee food security, stressing the need for collaboration with the private sector, farmers, financial institutions, logistics operators, traders, technology providers, development partners and communities.
“We need the private sector, farmers, financial institutions, logistics operators, traders, technology providers, development partners and our communities. “All of us are indispensable,” he said.
He said the success of the food system would be measured by whether farmers earned better returns, traders expanded their businesses, consumers had access to nutritious food at affordable prices and investors maintained confidence in Lagos.
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The Agege Fresh Food Hub represented a shift from infrastructure development to the operation of an integrated food system.
“We are moving from construction to operation, from projects to a system, and from promise to performance,” he said.
The governor commended the partners involved in the project and formally inaugurated the facility for use by residents, traders, farmers and other stakeholders in the agricultural value chain.
Earlier, the Chairman of Agege Local Government, Ganiyu Obasa, said the facility represented a new chapter in the economic life of the area and an opportunity to strengthen its local food system.
“Today is not merely about commissioning another physical structure. “We are commissioning an idea, an opportunity, a stronger food system and, most importantly, a new chapter in the economic life of Agege,” he said.
Obasa commended the Lagos State Government for investing in modern market and agro-food infrastructure, saying the initiative would strengthen connections among farmers, aggregators, traders, distributors and consumers.
He said Agege’s strategic location made the facility particularly important because of the area’s longstanding commercial activities and its position as a major commercial corridor linking communities and markets.
“For generations, our people have demonstrated resilience, entrepreneurship and ingenuity, building businesses that have become sources of livelihood for families and communities. “This fresh food hub adds another important dimension to that economic identity,” he said.
The state Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Systems, Abisola Olusanya, said the Agege Fresh Food Hub was designed as an important node in Lagos’ emerging food distribution network.
She said the project was supported by a 351-page operating framework covering operator selection, produce receiving and quality control, storage management, sanitation, waste management and the use of training facilities.
The facility occupies about 7,000 square metres and includes a 4,000-square-metre trading floor, cold-storage facilities, rice storage capacity, seafood facilities, vehicle parking and electric-vehicle charging points.
The facility was also projected to facilitate more than N5 billion in food transactions, adding that its commercial operations would be developed through an organized onboarding and governance system.
She said the project was intended to demonstrate what a modern food market could offer and eventually serve as a benchmark for food shopping facilities in Lagos, Nigeria and Africa.
She commended the state government, partners, ministries, departments and agencies involved in delivering the project, saying their contributions had helped transform the vision into physical infrastructure.
The ultimate objective was to establish an efficient and connected food system capable of moving food from farms to markets in a safer, faster and more organized manner, she said.
NAN
