Lagos: The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations and the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Food Systems have joined forces to boost investment in the Red Meat and Coconut value chains. A strategic roundtable was held on Tuesday at Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, to discuss and validate key investment proposals under the Lagos State Red Meat Initiative and the Coconut Value Chain Programme.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the two-day Investment Roundtable aimed to build on extensive technical support offered through the FAO Technical Cooperation Project. This project, titled ‘Technical Support for Feasibility and Value Chain Analysis of Lagos State Cattle Feedlot Farm Estate’, along with the FAO-UNIDO-supported Coconut Value Chain Programme, has resulted in detailed economic and financial analyses requiring stakeholder support for resource mobilisation and implementation.
Ms Abisola Olusanya, the Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Systems, expressed gratitude to the FAO for its continued technical partnership. Represented by Permanent Secretary Mr Emmanuel Audu, Olusanya highlighted the meeting’s importance as a matchmaking platform to transform value chain analysis into viable investments. She emphasised the growing demand for food driven by Lagos’s population and consumption patterns, noting that the state requires approximately 1,873,667 heads of cattle annually, with local production falling short.
Olusanya also addressed the coconut value chain, pointing out Lagos’s comparative advantage in producing 60% of Nigeria’s domestic coconut output. Despite this, Nigeria imports nearly 400,000 MT of coconuts, much of which comes through Badagry, indicating a significant opportunity for import substitution and value addition.
The commissioner asserted that Lagos offers serious investors a large market, an active private sector, and a commitment to reforms. She stressed the government’s role in setting rules, enabling investments, and ensuring sustainability to allow the private sector to scale effectively.
Dr Hussein Gadain, FAO Representative in Nigeria and ECOWAS, represented by Mr Tofiq Braimah, affirmed Lagos’s strategic position in Nigeria’s food security. He recognised Lagos as a hub of innovation and a gateway to regional and global markets. Gadain emphasised Lagos’s influence on consumption patterns and technological adoption, positioning it as a catalyst for Nigeria’s agricultural transformation.
Gadain further noted that FAO’s collaboration with Lagos is based on strategic investment analysis in key value chains, including coconut and livestock, to attract private and multilateral investments. The initiative aims to build an integrated economic ecosystem, leveraging Lagos’s industrial potential to create jobs and empower the youth, aligning with AfCFTA opportunities for agricultural transformation across Africa.
Mr Emmanuel Audu, represented by Dr Rasheed Macaulay, Director of Veterinary Services, reiterated Lagos’s readiness for the investments, underscoring the state’s commitment to this transformative path.