Introduction

The Agricultural Transformation Centre (ATC) under the Ogun State Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone (SAPZ) is a strategically planned facility designed to support agricultural production, aggregation, storage, and agro-processing across priority value chains. The scale and intensity of crop production, storage, and processing activities within the ATC and its out-grower catchments present heightened risks of pest infestation and inappropriate pesticide use, which may undermine agricultural productivity, food safety, environmental quality, and public health if not properly managed.

To address these risks, a Pest Management Plan (PMP) has been prepared to guide sustainable, safe, and effective pest management throughout the ATC’s lifecycle—covering pre-construction, construction, operational, and eventual decommissioning phases. The PMP is aligned with the African Development Bank (AfDB) Integrated Safeguards System (ISS, 2023), the World Bank Environmental and Social Standard 3 (ESS3), and the FAO Integrated Pest Management (IPM) principles. It prioritizes pest prevention, ecosystem-based solutions, and reduced dependence on chemical pesticides, while ensuring practicality and scalability for Ogun State’s agro-ecological context.

The key objectives of the PMP include:

  • Phasing out Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs) and Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs);
  • Promoting widespread adoption of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) across ATC-linked farmers and processors;
  • Establishing a multi-method pest surveillance and early-warning system;
  • Strengthening farmer, extension, and institutional capacity on IPM and pesticide safety;
  • Reducing pesticide-related health incidents and environmental contamination;
  • Institutionalizing coordinated pest management governance within the SAPZ framework.

The PMP responds to the reality that unmanaged pests and unsafe pesticide practices can result in yield losses, contamination of soil and water resources, biodiversity decline, occupational exposure, and loss of market access. It therefore provides a structured, science-based, and socially inclusive approach to pest management that safeguards productivity while protecting human health and the environment.

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