Post harvest losses: Making Nigerian farmers poorer

For a very long time, Nigerian farmers have lamented the situation without getting meaningful help from any quarter. The government and private sector investors have failed to look toward that direction as it seems to mean little or nothing to them, thereby worsening the situation.However, recent moves by the government on its preparedness to address […]

For a very long time, Nigerian farmers have lamented the situation without getting meaningful help from any quarter. The government and private sector investors have failed to look toward that direction as it seems to mean little or nothing to them, thereby worsening the situation.
However, recent moves by the government on its preparedness to address the problem of post harvest losses seem to have raised the hope of farmers.
The federal government, through the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as announced by the Agriculture Minister, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, is set to build 800  modern warehouses across the country to assist farmers in overcoming the problem of post harvest losses.
Disclosing this at the 2013 National Agricultural show held in Nasarawa State, the minister said one of the warehouses will be built in each local government area in the country.
His words: “The Ministry of Agriculture has initiated the process to acquire and install temperature-controlled solar-powered warehouses for farmers. A total of 800 modern warehouses will soon be established and every local government will have one warehouse, to be run by farmers and the private sector. For the first time ever, farmers will be able to store their farm produce, for a fee, and reduce post harvest losses.”
The minister also told the gathering that the federal government has been assisting farmers in mopping up excess farm produce and storing them as strategic reserves, which are sold to the people at reduced prices during periods of food scarcity.
But analysts and farmers who see the current move as a deviation from the past direction of government, are afraid that the warehouses may not take care of the real rural farmers in remote areas, as accessing just a single warehouse in a local government area will be difficult due to poor rural road network and the associated high cost of transportation.
Reacting to the development, a farmer, Mr. Joseph Bawa, at Aso village in Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State said, “Even if I have excess farm produce and it’s wasting, I won’t take it to the warehouse because the cost of transportation and the fee to be paid for keeping it there will defeat the aim. It’s only the middlemen that will gain from that arrangement as they buy very cheap from the farmers and store to sell at exorbitant prices.”
He called on government to come to the level of the real rural farmers who are the ones feeding the nation but getting poorer by the day and aging fast.
Some farmers and other stakeholders also argue that storage facilities alone cannot conquer the problem of post harvest losses in Nigeria. They maintain that processing facilities are direly required across the country so as to add value to agricultural products for local consumption and export, saying that it’s only when factories and cottage industries are established to take care of excess farm produce that the farmers will make some money.

However, the minister of agriculture believes that the government is addressing the issue of processing by creating enabling environment for both local and foreign investors, and even international agencies to come on board.
The minister said that the Dangote Group has invested heavily in sugarcane, pineaple and tomato processing and “over $4 billion of additional private investment commitments have been established across the agricultural value chains” in the country.
He said, “Dansa Foods has committed €36 million to establish what will be Africa’s largest high energy food plant, to process sorghum and transform it into a high value crop for farmers. LZ company in Kano now supplies all the fresh milk in the Shoprite supermarkets, replacing imports. Halal-certified beef industry has taken off with a modern meat processing plant in FCT area.”
He continued: “Food Concepts has invested $55 million to develop a fully integrated poultry and feed farm in Ogun State. Dantata Farms has revived the large but abandoned Anadariya poultry estate in Kano, and currently produces 20,000 to 30,000 broilers per week. And Dansa company has also invested $40 million to establish a 6,000ha pineapple plantation and processing plant in Cross River State.”
The success of the agricultural transformation agenda, Dr. Adesina said, is galvanizing global development finance institutions to support Nigeria. “So far, about $2 billion has been committed by the World Bank, Africa Development Bank, IFAD and others in support of the agricultural transformation agenda. We are developing new staple crop processing zones that will attract the  private sector to set up food processing facilities in rural areas. They will be complemented with the provision of social and physical infrastructure (power, roads and water),” he stated.
The minister further said that the federal government will soon launch the development of new agro industrial towns, with supportive social infrastructure to attract the youth to new economic zones that will be created.