Eko Farm Fair links Lagos farmers with buyers, organisers report gains
- The 2026 Eko Farm Fair in Ikeja brought farmers, food businesses and shoppers together under the theme 'Innovate Today, Nourish Tomorrow'.
- Smallholder farmers used the fair to sell directly to consumers and look for steady buyers and better prices.
- The BATN Foundation says its partnership with Lagos has supported over 4,000 farmers since 2019.
Thousands of shoppers, farmers and food business owners gathered at the Nigeria Police College in Ikeja, Lagos, for the 2026 Eko Farm Fair, held as part of the Eko World Food Day celebration.
The fair was organised by the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Food Systems with the BATN Foundation. Its theme was "Innovate Today, Nourish Tomorrow."
For smallholder farmers, the event was a chance to sell directly to consumers, find steady buyers and agree on better prices. Many say that is where the real struggle lies: a good harvest means little if there is no reliable market for it.
Kehinde Oyindamola, a smallholder crop farmer, displayed plantains, yams, tomatoes and habanero peppers at the fair. He said he was looking for new buyers and lasting business connections to help him grow.
Edeh Felicitas Ogochukwu, founder of food processing business NurisWell, said the platform gave her another chance to promote her products and reach more customers. She traced the business to 2023, when she received a grant from the BATN Foundation's Farmers for the Future programme during her National Youth Service Corps year.
Three years on, NurisWell has NAFDAC certification, a growing customer base and sales that now reach beyond Nigeria.
What the organisers say
Ruth Owojaiye, a board director of the BATN Foundation, said the fair was more than a marketplace, describing it as a way to improve livelihoods and help agricultural businesses grow.
She said the foundation has invested more than ₦5 billion in agricultural empowerment programmes, reaching over 1.9 million beneficiaries through training, farm input support and better access to water.
According to the foundation, its partnership with the Lagos State Government has, since 2019, supported more than 4,000 smallholder farmers, attracted over 10,000 shoppers and generated millions of naira in income for farmers who took part.
Leadership reported that some exhibitors complained of logistics problems in getting produce to market destinations.
Why it matters
Connecting farmers directly to shoppers can reduce their dependence on middlemen and give them room to negotiate better prices, according to The Sun's reporting.
The fair showed that growing more food is only part of the answer. Farmers also need organised markets, dependable buyers and fair prices to keep going.
