FG launches initiative to cut N3.5trn postharvest losses
The federal government has launched the Nigeria Postharvest Systems Transformation Programme (NiPHaST) to ensure an inclusive postharvest handling and storage system that reduces losses and promotes food sovereignty. Speaking at the Nigeria Legacy Programme, organised by the Africa Food Systems Forum in partnership with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) in Dakar, […]
Abubakar Kyari
The federal government has launched the Nigeria Postharvest Systems Transformation Programme (NiPHaST) to ensure an inclusive postharvest handling and storage system that reduces losses and promotes food sovereignty.
Speaking at the Nigeria Legacy Programme, organised by the Africa Food Systems Forum in partnership with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) in Dakar, Senegal, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, said the programme would focus on household storage technologies, community-level warehouses, cold rooms, and strategic national silos managed through public-private partnerships, among others.
Kyari said Nigeria loses an estimated N3.5 trillion annually to postharvest inefficiencies, largely affecting smallholder farmers, adding that “this is not just produce going to waste, it is opportunity lost and livelihoods destroyed.”
He said the NiPHaST Programme would stabilize food prices, ensure availability, accessibility, and affordability of staple food, improve storage systems, as well as achieve national food sovereignty.
He 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 initiative would unlock private sector investment, strengthen market confidence, and expand storage infrastructure.
The minister called for stronger international collaboration, stressing that transforming postharvest systems will secure farmer livelihoods, revive agribusiness confidence, and position Nigeria as a leading food supplier in West Africa.
In attendance at the Dakar conference were the Jigawa State Governor, Mal. Umar A. Namadi, Minister of Livestock Development, Alhaji Idi Mukhtar Maiha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Agribusiness, Dr. Kingsley Uzoma, Executive Secretary, National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF), Mohammed Abu Ibrahim, President, Nigeria Agribusiness Group, Arc. Kabir Ibrahim, among others.