Unbearable post-harvest losses

THE fresh report of post-harvest losses underlines Nigeria’s weak agricultural policies and decades of ugly paradoxes. A food and nutrition specialist at the FAO, Ibrahim Ishaka told the News Agency of Nigeria that about 50 per cent of agricultural produce is lost in the food supply chain.

Perishable items are the worst hit. They are usually plenty during harvest but gradually become scarce due to rotting and lack of storage facilities to keep them fresh. A popular Lagos market is an eyesore during the fruit season as heaps of rotten fruits give off an insufferable stench. Apart from huge losses to the sellers, the health of market patrons is in danger.

This is distressing but not surprising. Though the country has 70.8 million hectares of arable land, only about 44 per cent of it is cultivated.

Even that 44 per cent is not maximally utilised. This leaves over half of the country’s 233 million people hungry, despite the trillions of naira sunk into food imports and other government interventions over the years.
China cultivates only about 10 per cent of its arable land yet is the world’s largest food producer. This is only possible with vibrant technology-driven agriculture operations and a dynamic value chain.

At 19.24 per cent, crop production is the largest contributor to Nigeria’s GDP in the first quarter, per the National Bureau of Statistics, but it is rudimentary. Crop farming is in its subsistence stages and mostly in the hinterland. Nigeria’s cereal yield per hectare, at 1,656 kg in 2022, is far below Albania’s 5,201 kg, The Bahamas’ 7,424 kg, Belgium’s 8,604 kg, or Kuwait’s 13,526 kg.

The tools remain hoes and cutlasses, the same implements used ages ago. Most growers are ignorant of modern crop species; some need only a short time to harvest, and some resist nasty pests.
Livestock, agroforestry, fishing, and aquaculture are begging to be explored. Cattle ranching is mired in divisive politics and tribal acrimony. Thus, cattle roam the land amid frequent and bloody clashes with crop farmers. The FAO estimates annual deforestation at 0.7 to 2.38 per cent.

Irrigation-based dry-season farming is scanty. Thus, food crops once out of season are out of sight until the next season. This should be reversed.
Countries with far less arable land prioritise the agriculture value chain by developing their storage systems, building silos, and establishing crop processing and packaging industries. Japan, with limited arable land, focuses on high-value crops such as rice, vegetables, and fruits, and grows them productively. India reversed its post-harvest losses by building adequate and durable storage systems, among other interventions.

For Nigeria to curb its agriculture deficits and scale back hunger, it must rethink its food production methods.

President Bola Tinubu was at the receiving end of two hunger protests in 2024. This should inspire him to seek technocrats to man a sensitive ministry like agriculture.

In the North, farmers are killed, kidnapped, or barred from accessing their farms except they pay tributes to bandits.

The fight against insecurity should be strengthened to stop this. The government should help farmers replace their ancient tools with modern ones and low-value conventional crops with high-yield varieties.
In the supply chain, food transporters complain of high unofficial levies and taxes paid to sundry security agents, a development that ultimately drives up the cost of food items. A functional railway transportation will curb road extortion.

The government should reassess its food storage facilities. The silos should be revived, while private individuals are encouraged to invest in the agriculture value chain.

Tinubu mentioned bringing tractors to drive crop production in his Independence Day speech. A thriving value chain will mop up the crops churned out by those tractors.