The Lagos State Government has flagged off the construction of what will be the largest Food Security Systems and Central Logistics Park in sub-Saharan Africa.
The State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Wednesday, performed sod turning at the site of the facility being built on 1.2 million square metres of land in Ketu-Ereyun, Epe.
Establishment of the food park is a component of an audacious five-year Agricultural and Food Systems Road Map (2021–2025) launched last year by the Sanwo-Olu administration to enhance food sufficiency in Lagos.
When completed, the central food and logistics hub is expected to create direct wealth for more than five million traders in the agricultural value chain, while guaranteeing uninterrupted food supplies to more than 10 million Lagosians, at least 90 days, in a period of scarcity.
Besides, Sanwo-Olu visited the site of the State-owned Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital in Ketu-Ereyun, where the Governor inspected the level of construction work on the project.
Transactions on food items in Lagos are estimated to be N5 trillion yearly, just as farmers daily lose 40 per cent of produce worth millions due to a lack of a post-harvest storage system.
Sanwo-Olu assured Lagosians thatt the central food hub would guarantee greater returns for farmers and investors in the agro-allied sector, as the facility would cut out several layers of middlemen and facilitate improved access to modern processing and packaging services.
The governor hinted that the market matrix generated from the facility would help the Government generate useful data for public planning and for the use of private sector players to project investment.
“The development of this all-important Central Logistics Hub will be achieved through a collaboration between the State Government and the private sector and will be implemented through a Design-Build-Finance-Operate-and-Transfer model.
“At every step of the way, we will be counting on the contributions of the private sector, in terms of financing and technical advisory and support,” Sanwo-Olu said.