ABUJA, Nigeria — Nigeria loses an estimated $10 billion worth of agricultural produce annually to post-harvest waste, exposing major weaknesses in the country’s storage, transportation and food-processing infrastructure.
The scale of the losses is particularly alarming in a country battling high food prices and struggling to increase the availability of affordable agricultural produce.
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, disclosed the figures at the 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja, where he identified post-harvest losses as one of the major obstacles to improving food security.
According to the minister, Nigeria loses between 15 and 20 per cent of its grains, including rice, maize and millet, after harvesting.
The situation is considerably worse for perishable produce, with losses involving tomatoes, pepper, onions and other fruits and vegetables reaching between 60 and 70 per cent, depending on the season.
Kyari also disclosed that only three of the 17 federal silo complexes concessioned to private operators were performing, while the remaining 14 were almost comatose.
The revelation raises questions about the effectiveness of the country’s agricultural storage infrastructure and the management of facilities established to preserve food supplies and support farmers.
The minister attributed part of the problem to the distance between farming communities and major storage facilities, noting that some farmers travel more than 100 kilometres to access available silos.
Such distances increase transportation expenses and expose agricultural produce to deterioration before it reaches storage facilities or markets.
The government is consequently considering the introduction of smaller, modern community silo systems located closer to farming communities.
Kyari said the proposed facilities could have storage capacities ranging from 2,000 to 10,000 tonnes, depending on the production capacity of individual communities.
The proposed systems would incorporate improved ventilation and renewable energy technology, drawing inspiration from traditional grain-storage methods.
The initiative is intended to make storage more accessible to farmers while reducing the quantity of produce lost between harvesting and marketing.
Nigeria’s agricultural losses have implications beyond farmers’ incomes.
When large quantities of food perish before reaching consumers, farmers lose potential revenue, processors struggle to secure adequate raw materials and traders face supply shortages.
These inefficiencies also undermine efforts to moderate food prices because the cost of wasted produce and inadequate distribution infrastructure ultimately affects the economics of food supply.
The disclosure is particularly significant given the dominance of smallholder farmers in Nigeria’s agricultural system.
Kyari said between 85 and 90 per cent of Nigerian farmers were smallholders, with average farm sizes of approximately 0.6 hectares.
This fragmented production structure makes accessible storage, aggregation centres, processing facilities and efficient transportation essential to improving agricultural productivity.
While the proposed community silos could help address some of these challenges, their success will depend on proper funding, transparent management, regular maintenance and affordable access for farmers.
The government will also need to address the poor performance of existing concessioned facilities rather than allow additional storage infrastructure to become another burden on public resources.
Nigeria’s food security challenge is therefore not simply about producing more food. It is equally about preserving what farmers already produce and ensuring that harvested crops reach consumers and industries in usable condition.
