Lagos targets 100 food-processing plants around logistics hub

By Cynthia Alo Lagos State Government is planning to establish between 50 and 100 small food-processing plants around its proposed food systems and logistics hub as part of efforts to promote local processing, add value to agricultural produce and strengthen the state’s food supply chain. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu disclosed this at the Executive Business Breakfast organised by the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce, where he outlined the state’s plans to develop an integrated system for food storage, processing and distribution.

He said the proposed processing plants would be located around the logistics hub and supplied with agricultural produce brought in from different parts of the country. According to him, the arrangement is designed to create opportunities for value addition by ensuring that food commodities are not only stored and distributed but also processed within the state.

He stated: “The second part of that logistics hub is that it’s also going to feed about 50 to 100 small food processing plants.” He added that the government had made provision for processing facilities around the hub as part of its master plan. “We’ve created about 1,000 hectares all around that business, so we’re going to have layouts of small processing mills around it that can often do a lot of value addition,” he said.

The proposed hub is expected to receive food from different parts of Nigeria, with facilities for cold and dry storage, silos and a large trailer park to support the movement of commodities. Sanwo-Olu said the facility was almost completed, describing it as one of the largest food systems and logistics hubs in Sub-Saharan Africa.