Francesca Odimgbe
The Lagos State Government and other South-West states are seeking better ways to reduce food losses, improve food transportation and storage, and make food more available and affordable to Nigerians.
The move formed part of discussions at a three-day regional review of Nigeria’s Food Systems Transformation Pathways (FSTP), where the Federal Government also called on states and other stakeholders to contribute to a proposed framework for coordinating food security efforts across the country.
The meeting, which began on Tuesday, October 20, and is scheduled to end on Thursday, October 22, 2026, is holding at Protea Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, with participants from Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti states, alongside academics, development partners and other stakeholders.
Speaking at the meeting, the Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Systems, Ms Abisola Olusanya, said reducing food losses after harvest, improving storage and addressing transportation challenges were essential to tackling high food prices and improving access to food.
She explained that increasing agricultural production alone would not guarantee affordable food if significant quantities were lost during preservation, storage and transportation.
“A lot of our problem around inflation is not production. It is actually preservation, storage, logistics. Those are the key challenges around why food inflation is high,” she said.
Olusanya stressed the need to improve the organisation of food markets, strengthen traceability and introduce better quality-control measures to ensure that food supplied to consumers was safe, wholesome and affordable.
“We must start to organise our markets. We must start to ask questions. We must start to know who is planting this, planting that,” she said.
The Commissioner also highlighted the role of technology, infrastructure and skills development in improving the food supply chain, noting that better logistics, cold-chain facilities and temperature-controlled transportation could help reduce food losses and the cost of moving produce from farms to markets.
She added that encouraging young people to embrace agriculture alongside technology and enterprise development could help build a more efficient and sustainable food system.
In his keynote address, the Lagos State Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr Ope George, said stronger cooperation among states was necessary to address food security challenges and improve the movement of food from producing areas to markets.
George noted that food systems transformation went beyond farming to include processing, storage, transportation, distribution, market access and sustainable consumption.
According to him, Lagos State’s position as a major centre of commerce, consumption and distribution makes cooperation with other states particularly important, given its extensive food supply connections with other parts of Nigeria, including the northern states.
He said collaboration could help address persistent challenges such as post-harvest losses, high transportation costs, inadequate storage facilities and inefficiencies in food markets.
“Our collective goal must be to strengthen food value chains, improve market access for producers, enhance food availability and build a more resilient and sustainable national food system,” George said.
The Commissioner explained that the regional review would enable stakeholders to assess progress, identify implementation gaps and agree on practical measures to improve the delivery of food systems programmes.
He added that a common operational framework would help clarify the responsibilities of relevant institutions and promote consistency in implementation, monitoring and reporting.
Earlier, the National Convener of the Food Systems Transformation Pathway for Nigeria, Dr Clementina Ebere-Okoro, called on state governments and regional stakeholders to contribute to the validation of the draft Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for implementing the country’s food systems transformation agenda.
Speaking on behalf of the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Dr Deborah Odoh, Ebere-Okoro said the contributions of states and other stakeholders were critical to ensuring that the proposed framework reflected the practical realities of implementation.
She explained that although the Federal Government had prepared a draft SOP, inputs from the states and geopolitical zones were needed to establish a common approach to coordination, implementation, reporting and accountability.
“At the national level, we have put up the draft SOP, but we need the input of everyone—the states and the zones—because that is where the implementation is. We want a situation whereby we have a joint food SOP, so we need to validate it with your inputs,” she said.
Ebere-Okoro identified climate change, insecurity, malnutrition, post-harvest losses and rising food prices among the challenges confronting Nigeria’s food systems.
She said addressing these issues required stronger coordination, evidence-based decisions and sustained participation by government institutions, development partners and other stakeholders.
According to her, the bi-annual review was designed to assess implementation progress at federal and state levels, identify emerging challenges, document lessons and good practices, and agree on practical steps to improve results.
In her welcome address, the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget, Mrs Olayinka Ojo, called for sustained collaboration and effective coordination among stakeholders to improve food systems across the South-West.
Ojo said the meeting provided an opportunity for participants to review progress, share experiences, identify implementation gaps and validate an operational framework that would support more effective delivery.
She noted that food systems were closely linked to economic growth, job creation and improved livelihoods, making cooperation among states essential to achieving sustainable development.
“Given Lagos State’s strong economic and food supply linkages with other parts of Nigeria, collaboration across states and geopolitical zones remains essential to building resilient and sustainable food systems,” she said.
Ojo urged participants to contribute actively to the deliberations, expressing confidence that their combined experiences would help produce practical recommendations for implementing the regional food systems transformation agenda.
The three-day meeting is expected to conclude with recommendations on implementation priorities and inputs towards a harmonised SOP for the South-West.
The proposed framework is intended to strengthen coordination, clarify institutional responsibilities and improve accountability among stakeholders working to transform Nigeria’s food systems.