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From Okwe Obi, Abuja
The Federal Government has disclosed that Nigeria loses ₦3.5 trillion annually to post-harvest inefficiencies, largely affecting smallholder farmers.
The government observed that the losses were not just produce going to waste but opportunities lost and livelihoods destroyed.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, stated this at the recently concluded Africa Food Systems Forum in Dakar, the capital of Senegal.
To address the problem, Kyari announced the unveiling of the Nigeria Post-harvest Systems Transformation Programme (NiPHaST) to stabilise food prices, ensure the availability, accessibility, and affordability of staple food, improve storage systems, and achieve national food sovereignty.
Kyari, who said the initiative is in partnership with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), explained that the programme would focus on household storage technologies, community-level warehouses, cold rooms, and national silos managed through public-private partnerships, among others.
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The minister, in a statement issued yesterday by the Head of the Department of Information, Ezeaja Ikemefuna, pointed out that it would create robust investment in the storage value chain in terms of processing, preservation, packaging, marketing, climate-smart metal silos, and cold rooms, among others.
He added that the scheme would unlock private sector investment, strengthen market confidence, and expand storage infrastructure.
According to him, it would also improve agricultural exports, nutrition, household sales, job opportunities, farmers’ income, and wealth, as well as achieve food import substitution in the agricultural ecosystem.
He called for stronger international collaboration, stressing that transforming post-harvest systems will secure farmers’ livelihoods, revive agribusiness confidence, and position Nigeria as a leading food supplier in West Africa.
In attendance at the summit were Jigawa State Governor Umar Namadi; the Minister of Livestock Development, Idi Mukhtar Maiha; the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Agribusiness, Dr Kingsley Uzoma; the Executive Secretary of the National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF), Mohammed Abu Ibrahim; and the President of the Nigeria Agribusiness Group, Kabir Ibrahim.
