Agric Commisioner, Officials Inspect Agege Mid‑Level Agro Food Hub

News in Brief:

— Lagos State’s agriculture commissioner and other officials inspected the Agege mid‑level Agro Food Hub ahead of the facility’s commissioning.

— The hub joins a network of already existing hubs in Idi‑Oro Mushin and Abijo, designed to reduce post‑harvest losses, improve food distribution and create jobs.

Lagos State’s Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Systems, Mrs Ruth Olusanya, on Monday, led ministry officials to inspect the Agege Mid‑Level Agro Food Hub as the facility nears commissioning.

The delegation included the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mr Emmanuel Audu, and representatives from the Agege Local Government and market leadership who joined a joint tour of the site.

The visit began with a courtesy call at the Agege Local Government Secretariat, where the council chairman, Mr Abdul‑Ganiyu Obasa, received the team and outlined the hub’s expected contribution to local food security and market organisation.

Obasa described the hub as an infrastructure investment that will improve storage, trading and transportation for traders and farmers in Agege, adding that it aligns with the state’s Produce for Lagos initiative to modernise food systems.

“This hub will provide organised storage, trading floors and adequate parking for our traders, improving access to fresh, affordable food,” Obasa said, stressing that the facility would also boost incomes for farmers, traders and market women.

He noted that the council is collaborating with the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund to widen access to affordable business loans, saying residents can apply for entrepreneurship financing at nine per cent interest.

Commissioner Olusanya praised Agege Local Government for investing in infrastructure aimed at smoothing food distribution across the value chain and reducing pressure on the state’s markets. “Mid‑level hubs are key to reducing post‑harvest losses and stabilising food prices across Lagos State,” she said during the inspection.

Permanent Secretary Audu urged traders, farmers and officials to treat the facility as a shared asset, warning that long‑term success depends on collective responsibility and maintenance.

Expected Benefits and Local Partnerships Officials at the inspection described the Agege hub as a strategic investment that promises multiple benefits, which include reduced post‑harvest losses through better storage, steadier market supply and prices through organised trading floors, and income gains from more efficient trade.

The facility’s planned parking and logistics spaces are designed to ease loading and delivery, cutting delays that currently raise transport costs for traders and farmers. Local government leaders also emphasised linkages with employment and enterprise programmes.

Agege’s partnership with the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund aims to channel loans and business support to market actors, a move intended to formalise trade, grow small agribusinesses and expand value‑chain jobs. The Agege hub is part of a wider Lagos State programme to establish mid‑level agro‑produce hubs around the metropolis to strengthen aggregation, storage and market linkages.

The Fresh Food Hub at Idi‑Oro, Mushin, the state’s first mid‑level facility, served as a successful proof of concept, opening the door to expansion into other areas, such as the recently completed Mid-Level Agroproduce Hub at Abijo. 

Earlier, during a press briefing in May 2026, it was revealed that the food hub has recorded over ₦3 billion in transactions since operations began, registered more than 850 vendors and created over 7,000 direct and indirect jobs.

Those hubs operate regular market days and provide centralised handling and logistics that shorten the farmer‑to‑market chain, officials say.

While construction works are ongoing in Opebi, Ikorodu, and Bombata, the commissioner revealed that other state food interventions, such as Ounje Eko and subsidy and training programmes, also complement the hub network by improving affordability and supporting producers. 

Stakeholders and Next Steps During the joint inspection, market leaders and council officials toured the site with ministry representatives to review facilities and next steps before the commissioning. Audu repeated a common theme from previous hub launches across the state: the sustainability of these facilities depends on active ownership by traders, farmers and council officials, not just construction.

The ministry has said other mid‑level hubs, at Abijo, Opebi and additional sites across the state, are at various stages of completion as the government scales the model to more Local Government Areas. If the Agege hub is commissioned on schedule, it will add to the growing network that Lagos officials say is central to a strategy to modernise food logistics, reduce waste, and improve access to affordable fresh produce across the megacity.