SANWO-OLU COMMISSIONS AGEGE FRESH FOOD HUB TO STRENGTHEN FOOD DISTRIBUTION IN LAGOS
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By: Balogun Ibrahim
The Lagos State Government on Wednesday commissioned the Lagos Fresh Food Hub in the Pen Cinema area of Agege, describing the facility as a major step towards strengthening food distribution, reducing post-harvest losses and improving access to fresh and affordable food across the state.
The project forms part of the state’s broader hub-and-spoke food distribution network, with the Central Food Security Systems and Logistics Hub serving as the major aggregation and logistics platform, while mid-level hubs in locations such as Agege, Abijo and Mushin are designed to bring food distribution closer to communities and markets.
Speaking at the commissioning, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said the facility represented a significant milestone in the state’s drive to build a food-secure, economically vibrant and resilient Lagos. Sanwo-Olu noted that Lagos, with a population of more than 25 million people, relies heavily on food supplies from outside the state, with over 70 per cent of the food consumed in Lagos coming from other parts of the country.
According to the governor, the lengthy movement of food through fragmented supply chains contributes to increased transportation costs, post-harvest losses, inadequate storage, supply disruptions and fluctuations in food prices.
He said the state consequently introduced the Lagos State Food Systems Transformation Agenda to address challenges across the food value chain, from production and aggregation to logistics, processing and marketing.
The governor explained that the Agege facility is part of a growing network of Mid-Level Agro-Produce Hubs being developed across Lagos to shorten supply chains, eliminate unnecessary layers of intermediation, improve produce handling and enhance the efficiency of food distribution.
He cited the Fresh Food Hub in Mushin, commissioned in December 2023, as an example of the impact of the initiative. According to him, the Mushin facility has recorded transactions exceeding ₦4 billion across 228 market days, with more than 850 registered vendors and over 7,000 direct and indirect jobs created.
Sanwo-Olu said the Agege hub was strategically located to serve Agege and adjoining communities by providing modern food infrastructure for traders, farmers, aggregators and consumers.
He also highlighted the Produce for Lagos Programme, launched in July 2025 alongside the ₦500 billion Offtake Guarantee Fund. The initiative, he explained, enables farmers to produce for organised and guaranteed markets, addressing financing and market-access challenges while reducing distress sales and improving farmers’ earnings.
The governor disclosed that construction work was ongoing at food hubs in Opebi and Bombata, while additional locations had been identified in Ikorodu, Apapa, Festac and the Lekki axis.
According to the project brief, the Agege hub was developed to tackle challenges associated with traditional food trading, including poor produce handling, inadequate storage, food losses, traffic congestion linked to food logistics, poor waste management and difficult trading conditions.
Developed in partnership with Origin Tech Group, the facility is designed to provide an organised trading environment for farmers, aggregators, processors, suppliers, bulk dealers, retailers and consumers.
The hub occupies approximately 7,000 square metres, with a 4,000-square-metre trading floor capable of accommodating between 350 and 400 vendors.
It also features about 1,200 square metres of dry storage with a capacity of approximately 800 metric tonnes, as well as 300 metric tonnes of cold storage capacity for the preservation and management of fresh produce.
Other facilities include a dedicated seafood section, parking spaces for between 80 and 90 vehicles and 10 electric vehicle charging points.
The Lagos State Government projects that the facility could facilitate more than ₦5 billion in food transactions annually, based on its trading capacity and the volume of produce it is designed to handle.
The hub is also supported by a 351-page operating framework covering key areas including operator selection, produce reception and quality control, storage, inventory management, sanitation, waste management and the allocation and use of trading spaces.
Under the operational arrangement, traders will retain control over their commercial relationships, including pricing and cash or credit arrangements, while the government and hub management will provide the infrastructure, operational guidelines and oversight required to ensure efficient trading.
The choice of Agege, the government explained, was deliberate, given the area’s longstanding commercial importance and the strategic role of Pen Cinema as a major commercial centre and destination.
The Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Systems, Ms Abisola Olusanya, said the facility is expected to commence full operations within six weeks. She explained that the period would allow for the onboarding of operators and completion of the necessary operational, logistics and governance systems.
The state government said it expects the Agege hub to demonstrate the benefits of modern food markets through improved organisation, storage, sanitation, cold-chain infrastructure and a better shopping experience for consumers.
Sanwo-Olu further stated that the long-term objective of the administration is to establish structured food hubs across all Local Government Areas and Local Council Development Areas in Lagos State, thereby integrating communities into a modern and efficient food-distribution network.
Beyond food infrastructure, the governor highlighted other initiatives aimed at strengthening the agricultural sector. He disclosed that more than 125,800 farmers and fishermen had been trained in modern agricultural practices, while over 4,000 young people had been equipped through the Lagos Agripreneurship Programme to pursue careers in agriculture.
He added that the Lagos Agric Scholars Programme was promoting agricultural education among students in more than 440 secondary schools, while the Lagos State Butchers Academy was training a new generation of butchers in hygienic and modern meat-processing practices.
The governor also disclosed that the Lagos Rice Mill in Imota had produced more than 250,000 50kg bags of Eko Rice within the past year, including the newly introduced Eko Fortified Rice, enriched with essential vitamins and minerals.
Sanwo-Olu formally commissioned the Fresh Food Hub, Agege, expressing optimism that the facility would create greater prosperity for traders, provide better prices and market opportunities for farmers, and improve access to fresh and affordable food for Lagos residents.
The Agege facility is expected to become another key component of Lagos State’s evolving food distribution network and potentially serve as a model for modern food markets in Lagos, Nigeria and across Africa.
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