Lagos State Promotes Healthy Living through Eko Farmers Mart

Vanessa Obioha

As part of plans to provide Lagosians with hygienically-sourced food materials, Lagos state government officially opened Eko Farmers Mart. The opening was graced by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry for Agriculture, Dr. Olayiwole Onasanya who represented the governor Akinwunmi Ambode and other state officials.

Located in Surulere, Lagos, the mart is home to fresh-farm produce like eggs, yams, potatoes and the famous Lake rice. Meats sold in the mart are prepared under the best sanitized environment. The mart has in-house butchers who slaughter and clean the meat before they are packaged for sale. Likewise, poultry meat are locally bred and cleaned by the mart. Locales will generally have access to a wide range of farm produce like Garri Epe, Isu Ambode, Eja Epe, Eja Ikorodu, Eyin Ojulowo, Apon-Badagry, Epo Odua, fresh vegetables, Wara, Prawns and more.

Apart from providing healthy food produce to residents, the mart is also another effort of the state to empower farmers. According to the Omolara Yinusa, the franchise dealer, the farm produce are sourced from farmers in different parts of Lagos.

“We have farmers in Ikorodu who supply eggs to us, farmers in Satellite Town and Badagry bring their crops to us, and we also have the Lake rice. We deal directly with the farmers. There are no middle men in our business because we want to ensure that we are getting the best produce from the farm.”

With Eko Farmers Mart, residents can also purchase food items at a very affordable price, giving life to the mantra “one thousand Naira buys you a lot”. Modeled after similar ventures in developed countries, there are plans to establish more Eko Farmers Mart in other parts of the state to provide a more convenient and ease of food-material shopping as well as ensure more hygienic food.