An agricultural expert, Segun Alabi, has urged the Federal Government to increase funding for agriculture and invest in critical infrastructure, warning that Nigeria loses between 45 and 50 per cent of its agricultural produce annually to poor storage, processing and transportation facilities.
Alabi, the Chief Executive Officer of Davidola Farms, said the country's agricultural challenge was not necessarily inadequate production but the inability to preserve and move harvested produce efficiently to consumers and markets.
He made the call while addressing members of the House of Representatives Press Corps in Abuja, where he highlighted the economic consequences of persistent post-harvest losses.
Start tomorrow informed
Save your place for the morning brief. We’ll start emailing when delivery goes live.
Free. Confirm by email. Unsubscribe anytime.
According to him, the huge volume of produce wasted annually represents lost income for farmers, businesses and the wider economy.
Using pineapple production as an example, Alabi disclosed that Nigeria produces approximately 1.6 million metric tonnes of the fruit annually but loses significant economic value because of inadequate processing and preservation facilities.
He argued that improving agricultural productivity would require more than encouraging farmers to increase production, stressing the need for investments in infrastructure that would enable produce to reach markets in good condition.
The agricultural expert called on the Federal Government to create an enabling environment for private-sector investment and prioritise infrastructure development across the agricultural value chain.
He maintained that better storage, transportation and processing facilities would help reduce waste, improve farmers' earnings and strengthen the country's capacity to generate value from agricultural production.
Alabi also disclosed that Davidola Farms was developing a pineapple value chain as part of efforts to maximise the economic potential of the fruit.
He said the company planned to establish a pineapple processing factory by 2027, a move expected to support processing and reduce losses associated with unsold or perishable produce.
He stressed the importance of private-sector participation in addressing the challenges facing agriculture, noting that government support through improved policies, funding and infrastructure would encourage more investment in the sector.
Alabi's intervention comes amid growing calls for increased investment in Nigeria's agricultural sector to strengthen food security, improve value addition and reduce dependence on food imports.
He urged the government to treat post-harvest losses as a major agricultural challenge, arguing that Nigeria must improve its capacity to preserve, process and distribute what it already produces.
Discussion0