LAGOS State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Wednesday, July 23, launched the Produce for Lagos Programme and the N500 billion Offtake Guarantee Fund.

Speaking at the event, Sanwo-Olu said the state’s food economy had risen from N6.5 trillion to N16.14 trillion annually.

The governor boasted that Lagos was Nigeria’s largest food market, consuming over 50 per cent of the food traded in the country’s South-West.

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,” Sanwo-Olu said.

To implement the roadmap, he said the state had to increase its agriculture budget from N4.2 billion in 2018 to nearly N80 billion at present.

He said besides other projects around the food and agriculture sector being implemented, the Produce for Lagos programme was the next logical step in the roadmap.

He believes the programme would provide guaranteed off-take contracts, financing access, and logistics support, connecting Lagosians directly with Lagos’s dynamic food economy.

The governor stressed that the programme would boost agricultural production, reduce reliance on informal and uncoordinated supply channels, create jobs for the youth, and increase economic returns for all ecosystem stakeholders.

“It will be implemented through the Lagos Food Systems Infrastructure Company (LAFSINCO), and supported by key Special Purpose Vehicles like the Lagos Bulk Trading Company, Ekolog (Eko Logistics), and the *Produce for Lagos* Fund.

“This N500 Billion Offtake Guarantee Fund will provide working capital for bulk traders, finance for logistics operators, liquidity for aggregators, and credit support for food producers across Nigeria. It is a demonstration of our understanding that our food economy cannot thrive on policy alone – it requires financing,” the governor maintained.

He added that the fund was not a subsidy but an investment vehicle that would catalyse private capital, stabilise food prices, and de-risk agricultural operations across the value chain.

The launch was graced by dignitaries, including the Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, Kogi State Governor, Ahmed Ododo, Niger State Governor, Umaru Bago, and Taraba State Governor, Agbu Kefas.

Others were the Minister for Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, Chief of Defence Staff, Christopher Musa, Chairman Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu, and Minister for Finance, Wale Edun.

Elumelu donated N25 billion to support the launch.