INTERVIEW: How Lagos Food Bank Initiative is helping to tackle food wastage — Director

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Over the decades, Nigeria has underinvested in food preservation technologies and modern storage facilities. Limited market access, inadequate produce handling, and a pervasive knowledge gap among farmers have emerged as critical factors impeding food security and the country’s export potential. Consequently, farmers frequently record substantial post-harvest losses.

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A recent four-part investigation by PREMIUM TIMES revealed how inadequate handling of key staple crops, alongside governmental neglect, significantly contributes to Nigeria’s food insecurity. The report also recommended measures to mitigate the challenge.

In this interview with PREMIUM TIMES, Michael Sunbola, the founder and executive director of the Lagos Food Bank Initiative, discusses the organisation’s efforts to address the persistent problem of food wastage across Nigeria.

Excerpt:

PT: Can you share the inspiration behind the Lagos Food Bank Initiative and how it aims to address food wastage and malnutrition in Nigeria?

Mr Sunbola: In 2016, when we officially launched our service to humanity, Nigeria faced its first economic recession in over two decades, driven by a decline in oil revenues and a severe shortage of hard currency. The most vulnerable members of society—indigent families, the elderly, children, and widows—were hit the hardest, facing extreme poverty and starvation. This dire situation faced by many, coupled with my experience of food insecurity as a growing child where I had to learn in school on an empty stomach, and sometimes go to bed hungry, led us to focus on providing essential assistance, particularly food and personal care items, to those most affected by the harsh economic realities.
In tackling food wastage in Nigeria, we came up with initiatives like our Food Rescue programme, where we partner with food producing companies, logistics companies and local markets to collect surplus and unclaimed food items, and foods nearing expiration and best-before dates for swift redistribution to those in need of immediate food relief.

And through our Agricultural Recovery initiative, we partner with local farmers to collect surplus harvest for redistribution to those in need. These surplus harvests would have otherwise gone to waste due to a lack of proper storage and other factors that lead to post-harvest loss.

Our Nutritious Meal Plan Intervention for Vulnerable Mothers and Children (NUMEPLAN) is a programme that addresses malnutrition in Nigeria, focusing on educating undernourished lactating mothers and pregnant women from underserved communities about hygiene, healthy eating, the importance of breastfeeding and how to prepare complimentary meals for their infants, while providing nourishing food items to improve their nutritional status and well-being, to ensure themselves and their babies are well-nourished for optimal growth and development.

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PT: How does the Lagos Food Bank recover surplus food from donors, and how do you ensure the quality and safety of the recovered food?

Mr Sunbola: We begin by researching to identify surplus food, then reach out to organisations and farmlands. Most are eager to share their surplus to prevent it from going to waste. To ensure safe transportation, we use a cooling van to move the food to our warehouse or directly to underserved communities, which helps prevent spoilage.

Regarding food safety and quality, we follow strict guiding principles. We are currently training with the Global Foodbanking Network to meet global standards for food safety. Our Nutrition Procurement Policy, available on our website, is based on the National Policy for Food and Nutrition in Nigeria framework, underscoring our commitment to providing nutritious foods to beneficiaries. Our staff are highly trained in food safety and know exactly what to look for when recovering surplus food, ensuring that only safe, high-quality food reaches those in need.

PT: How does the Lagos Food Bank Initiative identify and reach vulnerable populations, such as the elderly, children, and low-income families, who are most affected by food insecurity and malnutrition?

Mr Sunbola: To identify and reach vulnerable populations, we conduct beneficiary registrations in underserved communities. Our team of volunteers uses criteria such as household income, number of family members, and occupation to assess their food insecurity levels. Additionally, individuals who meet these criteria can visit the Lagos Food Bank warehouse in Ikeja to register for our food distribution initiative. Through partnerships with primary health care centres (PHCs)in Lagos, vulnerable mothers and pregnant women come to the warehouse on their own to register for our NUMEPLAN programme. Our community outreach efforts have helped build awareness, so we also receive beneficiaries from Lagos and beyond who come to the Food Bank to register.

PT: What partnerships or collaborations has the Lagos Food Bank established with other organisations, government agencies, or private sector entities to amplify its impact and reach?

Mr Sunbola: We have established partnerships with over 30 PHCs across Lagos to improve the nutritional status of vulnerable mothers, malnourished children, and pregnant women in underserved communities. Over the past nine years, we have collaborated with 500 corporate organisations (international and local), impacting three million beneficiaries nationwide. Our Food Bank Network Nigeria programme connects with more than 150 NGOs to distribute food and nutritional support to beneficiaries in hard-to-reach areas within Lagos and beyond. Finally, through our EduFood programme, we have adopted several low-cost private schools in underserved communities to improve the health and well-being of schoolchildren who lack access to nutritious meals and other essential resources.

PT: What metrics or indicators does the Lagos Food Bank use to measure its success in reducing food wastage and malnutrition, and what progress has been made so far?

Mr Sunbola: In 2023, we served over 550,000 meals through our community intervention initiative, and served over 1,300 mothers and babies through our initiative that addresses malnutrition. In curbing food waste, we rescued and distributed over 2,200kg of food items through our Food Rescue initiative, reaching over 4,000 beneficiaries in need of immediate food relief.

Every year, in our annual report, we share the percentage of food donated and distributed, and its impact on reducing food insecurity for vulnerable communities and increasing their access to good food. We track key indicators such as the amount of food distributed, the number of beneficiaries reached, and the improvements in nutritional status in the communities we serve. Furthermore, we measure the reduction in food wastage by tracking the volume of surplus food diverted from the waste stream, preventing it from being discarded and ensuring it reaches those in need.

Over the years, we have seen significant progress, with millions of meals distributed and a measurable decrease in malnutrition rates in the areas where we operate.

PT: How does the Lagos Food Bank Initiative address the root causes of food insecurity and malnutrition, such as poverty, lack of access to education, and inadequate healthcare?

Mr Sunbola: The Lagos Food Bank Initiative (LFBI) goes beyond providing emergency food relief—it takes a holistic and sustainable approach to addressing the root causes of food insecurity and malnutrition in Nigeria.

Here’s how we tackle key underlying issues like poverty, lack of access to education, and inadequate healthcare:

LFBI recognises that long-term food security cannot be achieved without addressing economic hardship, and so sustainability initiatives like the Family Farming programme train beneficiaries in urban farming, mainly poultry, vegetables and snail farming, equipping them with the skills and resources like cages, chicks, snails, soil, seedings, multi-vitamins and chicken feed, to grow their food for consumption and income generation.

Similarly, the Job Placement Programme connects unemployed youths and vulnerable adults with job opportunities, helping families escape the cycle of poverty and become self-reliant.

Through the EDUFOOD Programme, we partner with low-cost private schools in underserved areas to provide nutritious meals twice a week to food-insecure children. This initiative improves student concentration, school attendance, and academic performance while reducing school dropout rates. By nourishing children, the programme also encourages families to prioritise education, allowing them to channel their limited resources to other household needs.

Malnutrition in mothers and children is a serious challenge in Nigeria that affects personal, community and national development. LFBI addresses this through the Nutritious Meal Plan Intervention for Vulnerable Mothers and Children (NUMEPLAN), which provides nutritional and hygiene counselling, and tailored food packs rich in essential nutrients to pregnant women, lactating mothers, and children under five. This not only improves maternal and child health but also reduces the risk of developmental issues caused by poor nutrition.

In conclusion, the Food Bank’s model doesn’t just fill empty stomachs; it builds resilience, self-reliance, and opportunity, targeting the root causes of food insecurity and driving real change in underserved Nigerian communities.

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PT: What plans does the Lagos Food Bank have for scaling up its operations and replicating its model in other parts of Nigeria, and what support or resources are needed to achieve this goal?

Mr Sunbola: We recently launched a third warehouse at our permanent site in Ikeja, which will help us extend our reach to more underserved households across Nigeria. In collaboration with our partner NGOs nationwide, we hope to expand our impact with more distribution efforts to underserved communities in different states and replicate our model in other regions in Nigeria as regional hubs of the Food Bank.
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To achieve this, we would require funding support, strategic partnerships, more volunteers and human capital, technology/data tools and collaboration with the government to provide enabling policies, land, tax exemptions, and support for food redistribution from state-owned warehouses and agencies in support of our mission of eradicating hunger and improving food security in Nigeria.