Organised Market Critical To Lowering Food Prices – Commissioner

Amid the unbridled food price hike that has pushed Nigeria’s inflation rate to 34:19 per cent in June 2024, the highest in over a year, the Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Systems, Ms. Abiola Olusanya has stressed the importance of having organised market to ease the purchasing of food items and lower prices.

Olusanya who stated this at a press conference to unveil the Eko Flavours project, a transformative platform to showcase the state as the melting point of Nigeria as well as the culinary prowess of youths and local market vendors in the state affirmed that organised market help control prices of food items because demand could be measured and prices could be negotiated.

At the briefing held at the Fresh Food Hub at Idi Oro in the Mushin area of the state, Olusanya said the Eko Flavours project, which is in partnership with the private sector, was introduced to drive efforts to transform food markets in Lagos State as part of the initiatives by the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration to better shape the state’s food system.

She said Eko Flavours, which is meant to be a culinary platform for food vendors and chefs to showcase their talent and interact with food enthusiasts, would be held annually, disclosing that the 2024 edition will be held in August.

“The main aim of the Eko Flavours project, aside from engaging young culinary enthusiasts and food lovers, is to showcase Lagos as a transformative state when it comes to experiences around food. We seem to have more affinity for just getting our foods inside our kitchen without understanding the logistics that go into the production side of things,” she said.

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Olusanya said the Eko Flavours project would showcase the cooking skills of different chefs who reside in Lagos, noting that various cultural dishes would be displayed to the delight of residents.

Speaking during the press conference, the Co-CEOs of Tantacom Group, Mrs. Olufunke Adu and Mrs. Jennifer Odufuwa, who were representatives of the Project Management Agency, said all participants would be adequately compensated with consolation prizes, noting that the idea of Lagos Flavours is to encourage unity among all the various ethnicities and tribes with their various cooking skills and dishes in Lagos as the melting point of diversification in the country.

Adu said the Eko Flavours project was designed to discover talents and bring together upcoming chefs, enthusiasts, and people who love cooking to engage with the community, adding that the competition will provide a platform for foodies in the state to explore a variety of cuisines and to showcase their skills beyond their expectations.

Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Systems, Mr. Emmanuel Audu, urged many players in the food ecosystem to take full advantage of the opportunity of the Eko Flavours, which according to him has the potential to launch participants into global limelight.