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From Okwe Obi, Abuja
To curb $10 billion annual post-harvest losses, the Federal Government has revealed plans to revitalise the silos concession scheme to ensure an effective storage system that would reduce losses, improve the food storage ecosystem, as well as achieve food sovereignty.
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, stated this at a high-level meeting with the delegation from the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), led by the Director-General, Dr. Jobson Oseodian Ewalefoh, yesterday in Abuja. Kyari, in a statement yesterday by the Head of Information Department, Ezeaja Ikemefuna, said there was an urgent need to revitalise silo storage facilities in the country as a critical strategy to reduce Nigeria’s massive post-harvest losses, currently estimated at $10 billion annually, saying: “Storage facilities are essential to our food security drive, as they directly address wastage and ensure year-round availability of staple crops.”
He said out of the 17 silo complexes concessioned to five private companies, only Flour Mills of Nigeria, which operates three silo complexes under three separate Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs), has met all conditions and is performing optimally.
Kyari explained that the ministry’s review process indicated that several concessionaires failed to put silo facilities into optimal operating condition despite earlier agreements. Monitoring visits showed little or no progress in some facilities, with reported cases of vandalisation and perimeter fence collapse in locations such as Ikorodu and Ogoja. He added that some of the concessionaires defaulted on their payment obligations, with only Flour Mills consistently meeting performance and financial conditions.
He further revealed that the ministry would work closely with ICRC to intensify oversight functions, enforce compliance, and ensure that only competent private operators manage silo facilities.
According to him, this renewed push aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s agricultural transformation agenda aimed at achieving food and nutrition security.
In his remarks, ICRC boss, Dr. Jobson Oseodian Ewalefoh, stated that only private companies with real operational needs for silos should be retained.
He also advised that abandoned silos should be retrieved by the Federal Government and pointed out that some concessionaires failed to remit required returns to government coffers.
