Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has launched the *Produce for Lagos* Programme and the ₦500 billion Offtake Guarantee Fund, revealing that the state food economy, which was ₦6.5 trillion annually, is now ₦16.14 trillion.

Speaking on Wednesday at the official launch of the *Produce for Lagos* Programme and the ₦500 billion Offtake Guarantee Fund, Sanwo-Olu added that Lagos is Nigeria’s largest food market, consuming over 50 per cent of the food traded in the Southwest.

According to the governor, research also revealed that Lagos loses nearly 50 per cent of its food between harvest and the market, largely due to poor storage and inefficient transportation.

“Then came 2020, and with it, the global COVID-19 pandemic, which exposed Lagos as highly dependent on food imports, and therefore vulnerable to global supply shocks. It became clear that we must transform our food system to ensure that Lagos can feed its people sustainably, both now and in the future.

“This led to us launching, in 2021, the Lagos State Agricultural and Food Systems Roadmap, our robust plan for addressing structural weaknesses within the food system, particularly post-harvest losses, poor logistics, and supply chain gaps.

“To implement this roadmap, we significantly increased the agriculture budget from ₦4.2 billion in 2018 to nearly ₦80 billion today, the highest in the State’s history. This, for us, was a bold affirmation that food is economic infrastructure, deserving of the same attention as transport or energy.