Lagos To Commission $90,000 Biogas Plant At Ketu Fruit Market.
Lagos State is set to benefit from a $90,000 biogas plant project at the Ikosi Fruit Market in Ketu, as part of efforts to improve waste management and reduce methane emissions. The project, funded through the UK Government-backed Urban Climate Action Programme (UCAP) and implemented by the Lagos State Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources in partnership with C40 Cities, will be officially commissioned soon.
This initiative was announced during a three-day annual Regional Academy event held in Lagos, which brought together representatives from cities across Africa. The biogas plant will convert organic food waste generated by the market into biogas, which will be used to power a cold room and provide improved lighting at the market.
Reducing Waste and Emissions
The Ikosi Biogas Project is designed to address waste management challenges by diverting organic waste from landfills, reducing harmful methane emissions, and generating renewable energy. The system will process 0.5 tonnes of waste per day, with plans to expand to handle the full 30 tonnes of daily waste generated by the market. Additional solutions, including composting and recycling, will be implemented to manage non-organic components.
Lagos generates approximately 5,600 tonnes of organic waste daily, with the Ikosi Fruit Market contributing 30 tonnes per day, 90% of which is organic. By mid-2025, the plant will serve as a pilot project for similar interventions across the state’s 35 other markets, potentially reducing waste emissions by 130,648 CO2-equivalent tonnes annually—about 3% of Lagos’s total waste emissions.
Improving Market Livelihoods
State Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, praised the project, highlighting its dual benefits: “Our entry point is reducing methane emissions, but an important co-benefit of the project is that it improves the lives of market traders. The cold storage facility will help traders keep their produce fresher for longer.”
The market, which supports over 1,000 traders—80% of whom are women—will see significant economic and environmental improvements. Traders will benefit from reduced spoilage of produce and better lighting in key areas, enhancing their working environment.
A Scalable Solution
Aditi Maheshwari, Managing Director for Climate Action Implementation at C40, emphasised the potential for city-wide impact: “This project builds a case for leveraging both internal and external investments for larger-scale implementations. If replicated across Lagos’s 35 food markets, this initiative could deliver significant environmental and economic benefits.”
The Ikosi biogas plant is part of Lagos’s broader sustainability goals, showcasing the state’s commitment to innovation in waste management and renewable energy. If successful, the initiative could set a benchmark for other cities tackling similar challenges.
