Urban food market governance in Nigeria : the case of the Mile 12 Market in Lagos

Abstract

Urban food markets are critical nodes for food security and livelihoods in African cities, yet their governance remains poorly understood. This study examines the complex governance dynamics of Lagos State’s Mile 12 Market, Nigeria’s largest fresh produce market, which supplies an estimated 80% of the state’s food. The research addresses a significant gap in literature by moving beyond a focus on food safety and economic contribution to analyse the intricate interplay between formal and informal actors and institutions that shape the market’s operations, socio-economic outcomes, and resilience. Using a qualitative case study approach, the research employed semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and secondary data analysis to investigate how traders, market leaders, government officials, and other stakeholders interact to govern the Market. A purposive and snowball sampling strategy was employed to access a diverse range of perspective. The findings reveal a hybrid and decentralized governance system where the official regulatory framework is significantly augmented, and often overshadowed, by robust extra-governmental structures. The market committee and product associations play a paramount role in providing security, managing infrastructure, resolving disputes, and collecting fees, effectively creating a form of self- governance. The study identifies key governance challenges, including ethnic tensions, contested spatial expansion, and a persistent policy threat of relocation by state authorities seeking a modernized urban aesthetic. It highlights how traders leverage social networks, political connections, and media engagement to resist such threats, demonstrating remarkable resilience. The analysis is framed by socio-economic theories that view markets as socially embedded spaces, where trust, reciprocity, and ethnic solidarities are as critical as price competition in facilitating transactions and maintaining order. The research concludes that the Mile 12 Market is indispensable to Lagos's food system, providing affordable, accessible food through flexible wholesale and retail practices and supporting thousands of livelihoods within a vast informal economy. Its current governance, while imperfect and occasionally conflictual, is highly adaptive and effective. The study argues that urban food security policies must move beyond formalization and relocation agendas. Instead, they should recognize, engage with, and strengthen these existing hybrid governance systems to enhance food accessibility, ensure trader livelihoods, and build sustainable urban food systems across Africa. Keywords: Urban food governance, Informal markets, Mile 12, Lagos, Food security, Livelihoods, Hybrid governance, Resilience, Nigeria, SDG 2.