Every Saturday in Ikoyi, Lagos (Nigeria), a small but steady ritual unfolds behind Nakenoh’s Boulevard mall. TKD Farms Farmers’ Market, founded in 2017, brings together a rotating group of vendors—15 to 20 each week, out of a larger pool of 185. What happens here is more than retail. It’s a working model of what a community-centered economy can look like.
This isn’t a typical market. Vendors don’t just show up, set up, and sell. They interact, adapt, and build relationships that carry beyond the day’s sales. The layout changes weekly—no vendor has a fixed spot. This prevents any one business from monopolizing customer flow and encourages everyone to connect with different neighbors each time.
Even the physical design reflects careful thinking. Food vendors are placed in the back and to the left, away from skincare and fragrance sellers at the front, ensuring safety and comfort for everyone involved. These decisions are small but deliberate, and they shape how the market works—fairly, safely, and with attention to detail.
Product diversity is central. You’ll find everything from teas and herbs to baked goods, cosmetics, and plants. The market serves as a local supply chain that supports both customers and producers. But what’s most interesting is how the vendors collaborate. Take Infused Organics, a natural skincare brand: after a customer requested a citrus oil, the founder teamed up with a vendor who sells dried fruit to source lemon zest. The result was a new best-selling product—developed through direct feedback and cross-vendor collaboration.
This kind of innovation is routine here. Vendors share resources, ideas, and sometimes ingredients. Newcomers are welcomed with orientation materials, added to group chats, and featured on a welcome flyer. From the start, they’re folded into the market’s rhythms—not left to figure things out alone.
When the market faced a dip in attendance during holiday seasons, the vendors built a simple customer tracking system to stay connected with buyers and drive midweek sales. That online market now keeps business going even after stalls are packed up.
Online, the collaboration continues. Vendors promote each other, run joint campaigns, and appear together in vendor spotlights. TKD Farms Farmers’ Market doesn’t claim to fix the broader economic challenges facing Lagos. But it does offer a small-scale example of a fairer way to do business. In a city where economic systems often favor a few at the expense of many, this market works differently—by design.
At TKD, trust is not an abstract idea. It is built into the structure—one Saturday at a time.