The Lagos State Government has unveiled plans to increase food sufficiency from about 20 per cent to 40 per cent of the state’s food demand, while targeting the production of 50 million fish fingerlings annually to boost local fish production and reduce dependence on imports.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu made this known at the 2026 Eko World Food Day celebration, themed “Innovate Today, Nourish Tomorrow,” held at the Police College, Ikeja, where he was represented by the Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat.
The governor also highlighted the state’s livestock development initiatives, including plans to fatten at least 100,000 cattle annually to support meat production and improve food supply.
Sanwo-Olu said the government had introduced various programmes and infrastructure projects to establish a stable and sustainable food system capable of meeting the needs of Lagos residents.
He congratulated farmers for their contributions to feeding the state and urged residents to embrace farming by using available spaces in their homes to grow crops, including planting vegetables and other food crops in sacks.
The governor stressed that the success of the government’s agricultural policies would be measured by their impact on the lives of residents rather than merely the number of programmes launched or facilities constructed.
Speaking further, Hamzat said the state’s five-year agricultural and food systems roadmap was designed to strengthen local production, improve food processing and distribution, and make nutritious food more accessible and affordable.
He identified infrastructure and markets, production and processing, people and skills, as well as innovation and support for farmers as the four pillars of the state’s food security agenda.
According to him, the Lagos State Central Food Security System and Logistics Hub, mid-level agricultural produce hubs and last-mile distribution networks were being developed to reduce unnecessary intermediaries, minimise food waste and bring food closer to consumers at competitive prices.
Hamzat disclosed that Phase One of the central food security hub in the Ketu area was at an advanced stage, while mid-level hubs in Mushin and Agege had been commissioned. Construction was also ongoing at Abijo, Okwebi in Ikeja and Bombata on Lagos Island.
He added that the Produce for Lagos programme was connecting farmers to structured off-take arrangements at agreed prices, with the initiative supported by a N500 billion guaranteed off-take fund. Registration of farmers in Lagos and partner food-producing states was ongoing.
On agricultural processing, the deputy governor said the Lagos Rice Mill in Imota had an annual capacity of about 2.5 million 50-kilogram bags of rice, had created approximately 2,000 jobs and empowered about 500 farmers, while supporting more than 1,500 hectares of paddy farmland.
He also said the Eko Agro Mechanisation Programme had facilitated the cultivation of more than 3,000 hectares of farmland, benefiting approximately 5,000 farmers through improved access to machinery.
In the livestock sector, Hamzat highlighted the cattle feedlot project at Igbodu in Epe and the pilot dairy farm in Yafin, Badagry, where fresh milk production had commenced.
He noted that the Lagos Aquaculture Centre of Excellence at Epe, being developed through a public-private partnership, would include a hatchery, feed mill and processing plant, with an expected annual capacity of 50 million fingerlings, 2,000 tonnes of fish and 24,000 tonnes of aquaculture feed.
The deputy governor said the facility would help reduce the state’s dependence on imported fish while strengthening local aquaculture production.
On human capital development, he disclosed that the Lagos Agripreneurship Programme had trained more than 4,400 youths and women in poultry farming, aquaculture, vegetable production and piggery, with over 2,000 beneficiaries receiving assets and inputs to establish or expand their businesses.
He also highlighted the Lagos Agri-Scholar Programme, which promotes agricultural education among secondary school students, noting that 12 senior secondary schools reached the final stage this year and received net houses for practical agricultural training.
Hamzat further announced that the government had earmarked an additional N200 million for the Lagos Agrinnovation 3.0 programme, following the award of N150 million in grants to agritech innovators at the previous summit. More than 200 applications had been received for the new edition, with screening expected to begin shortly.
He added that 5,000 farmers had benefited from a 25 per cent subsidy on animal feed, fertilisers and tractor-hiring services through the state’s farmer subsidy programme.
The deputy governor outlined five priorities for strengthening food security: accelerating the adoption of appropriate technologies, deepening partnerships with food-producing states and research institutions, investing in farmers’ skills and access to finance, reducing post-harvest losses, and promoting food affordability, nutrition and sustainability.
He urged farmers to remain committed to agricultural production despite rising costs, unpredictable weather and other challenges, assuring them of the state government’s continued support.
“The future of Lagos needs you, and be sure that Lagos will not leave you behind,” he said.
Earlier, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Agriculture and Food Systems, Dr. Oluwarotimi Fashola, said the government was promoting urban farming by encouraging residents to cultivate crops in any available space around their homes.
Fashola emphasised that no nation could survive without a stable food system, describing the theme of the celebration as timely in view of the need to invest in food production today to guarantee adequate supplies in the future.
The high point of the ceremony was a march-past by different categories of farmers and stakeholders across the agricultural value chain, who displayed their agricultural products to the cheers of a large crowd.
World Food Day is observed annually on October 16 to commemorate the founding of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in 1945 and promote global action against hunger and malnutrition.
