In line with the commitment to ensure food security and inclusive economic growth, Lagos State Government has engaged both local and foreign investors on the need to invest in the State’s food value chain.
Speaking at the Y2022 Breakfast Meeting on “Investing in the Lagos Food Value Chain”, Special Adviser to the Governor on Sustainable Development Goals and Investment, Mrs. Solape Hammond explained that the Government is focused on transiting the state from a consuming state to a new production hub.
The meeting, according to her, is to further showcase the comparative advantage the State has over other competing States in the food value chain and encourage investors to explore opportunities in the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors in agriculture across the State.
“Despite Lagos being the export hub of Nigeria, more than 70% of what she consumes is imported. We want a new form of investment to flow into food and agriculture systems. We want companies to establish here and export to the rest of Africa”, she said.
Hammond noted that the Lagos State Agricultural and Food Road Map (2021-2025) which focuses on eight sectors including coconut, piggery, rice, seafood, fisheries, red meat and several other areas were designed to bring sanity into the agricultural value chain.
“The whole idea is for the state to be relatively food sufficient, which we realised was a core need after the impact of COVID-19 as we struggled to feed over 22 million Lagosians because the State is not really food sufficient”, she revealed.
She stressed that the State wants to optimise the Africa Free Trade Agreement by leveraging on the opportunities to engage in large-scale agricultural business for the State’s economy to be more resilient.
In her words: “Lagos has eight free zones that make it easier for investors to plug and play. We are building standard factories in our free zones, we have port access, we have airport access and more than 70% of cargo comes through the State.
“Having the largest rice mill in Africa and 5th in the world which is billed for commissioning and production to commence in the month of November and construction of the largest Food Security Systems and Central Logistics Park in sub-Saharan Africa. All these put the state in good stead towards food sufficiency”.
“The food processing market which is the first of the three food market logistics hubs will help bring sanity into the food chain system across the State. We want to know the quantity of food that comes into the state, where it is coming from and the condition of the food. This will help to prevent food wastage and unhealthy food ”, she added.
The Special Adviser further noted that food prices in Lagos are on the high side compared to other urban cities in the country, stressing the need to create more visibility to attract investment in order to make food sufficient and affordable to the people.
In his remark, the Special Adviser on Agriculture, Dr. Oluwarotimi Fashola affirmed that investment opportunities abound in the food value chain as more effort and innovation are needed to sustainably increase agricultural production and improve the supply chain.
“As the environment for food and agricultural production is increasingly challenging, new patterns of food system governance are required”, he revealed.
Fashola maintained that there are opportunities for many investments and the State Government will continue to explore the Public-Private Partnership model to complement its policies and initiatives for the State.
The event had in attendance the representative of the Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives; Permanent Secretary, Office of SDGs and Investment, Mrs. Abosede George; Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on SDGs, Mr. Lekan Fatodu.
Others include British Deputy High Commissioner, Mr. Ben Llewellyn-Jones, representatives of UAE, Netherlands and Sweden, United State of America, France, Germany, Indonesia and Brazil Chambers of Commerce; the Director-General, DAWN Commission, Mr. Seye Oyeleye; Members of the Organised Private Sector and Stakeholders in the business community.
