Food security: Sanwo-Olu flags off construction of biggest logistics hub in Epe

IBRAHIM QUADRI

Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Wednesday flagged off the ground breaking of a Central Food security systems and logistics hub in Ketu-Erefun, Epe area of the State.

The completion of the porject is expected to last for 24 months and will provide storage facilities for more than 1,500 trucks per day,

The project which will be implemented in two phases- the pilot phase and the main phase will create wealth for more than five million people, feed more than 10 million Lagosians and guarantee food supplies for at least 90 days.

The State Food Security Systems will be built on 1.2 million square metres of land, and will have components such as Aggregation/storage facilities; Administrative offices; Trading/Brokering facilities; Packaging facilities; Processing facilities; Cold chain/dry goods services; logistics Services/ trailer park; water treatment plant; Health centre; Fuel station/ Fire station and Abattoir and lairage.

The Governor also inspected 500-bed capacity psychiatric hospital under construction which is situated a few metres away from the food security hub.

Speaking at the flag off, Sanwo-Olu said, “This project is proof of our administration’s commitment to addressing the challenges of stakeholders in the Agri-space and giving hope to the people through improved quality of life.

“The project will improve productivity, guarantee greater returns for our farmers, by cutting out several layers of middlemen; facilitate improved access to modern processing and packaging services for farmers; and generate useful data for the use of government agencies, private sector players, and multilateral agencies.

“In addition, the Hub will provide a better buying experience for consumers; help achieve a reduction in logistics costs, while guaranteeing the standardization of quantity and quality for agricultural products.

“I can boldly say that this is one of the most important agricultural interventions that Nigeria has ever seen. The fact that it is taking place in Lagos, the most populous and fastestgrowing subnational entity in the country, means that it is bound to have significant national, regional, and continental impact.

“Interestingly, Lagos is a State that is not often identified with agriculture, perhaps because of our relatively small land mass. And yet, again and again, we have shown the world that we can be as valuable in this sector, as any other State in Nigeria, including those blessed with much bigger volumes of arable land. What we lack in land mass, we more than make up for in terms of human and industrial capacity, as well as the unbeatable entrepreneurial ability of our people.”

The Governor explained that for Lagos to achieve agricultural revolution, this was responsible for the formulation development of the five-Year Agricultural & Food Systems Road Map (2021–2025), which was launched in April 2021.

He added, “The Road Map seeks to take full advantage of all the agricultural value chains in which Lagos State has competitive and comparative advantages, with a view to enhancing our level of selfsufficiency in food production from the current 18% to 40%.

“To implement this Road Map, we understand that target-driven collaboration with the private sector and multilateral agencies is essential, and that is why, in everything we do, we emphasize the role of the private sector.

“The development of this all-important Hub will be done through a collaboration between the Lagos State Government and the private sector, 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.”

In her welcome address, the State Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms Abisola Olusanya said, “Recent global events from the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, erratic weather patterns causing severe droughts and floods to the war between Russia and Ukraine has shed more light on the vulnerability of food systems, particularly in urbanized societies that are more dependent on external food sources. A disruption in the food distribution sequence has catastrophic effects of significant proportion to the security of a people.

“The Lagos Central Food security systems and logistics hub project was conceived at the very beginning of the administration of Mr. Governor– who had the vision for a Lagos with food reserves, translating to a higher degree of availability, lower prices, less wastage, and more nutritious and wholesomefood products.

“Upon completion, the Food Security Systems & Central Logistics Hub will unleash the huge potential in both the midstream and downstream sectors of the agricultural and foods sector.This project will further reaffirm the State as the preferred market destination for Agricultural produce along the West African corridor.

I believe the project’s enormity and scope will change the economic landscape of Epe and Lagos as a whole. No doubt, it would lead to an influx of services in sectors such as real estate sector, banking, logistics, hospitality sector and a host of others. This is in view of the population increase, growth in per capita income, and improvement in the people’s standard of living,” she noted.