Yam farmers in Benue say they record about 40 per cent post-harvest losses. It's a similar situation for other food items and states.
INVESTIGATION: Inside Nigeria’s large-scale post-harvest losses amid food crisis SPECIAL REPORT: Jigawa villagers link declining farming output, urban drift to abandonment of damThe forgotten peoples of the world, By Ahmed Aminu-Ramatu YusufOn women’s participation in the tech ecosystem, By Shuaib S.
“If you consider the money you will pay to move these goods out to the market, it may exceed the profits you are to make from the sales. So, bad road infrastructure and access to the market are major challenges in this business for us in this community.” INFOGRAPH: Postharvest Losses: Postharvest losses in rice production in Nigeria have been observed to fall between 20 -40 %.
The World Resource Institute observed that: “any innovations in managing postharvest losses, such as the use of hermetic bags for grain storage, cold room facilities for perishable foods, etc., have meagre adoption rates in Africa. To help shift these low adoption rates, it’s important to co-design such innovations with local farmers and entrepreneurs at the centre while investing in local small- and medium-sized enterprises to help scale businesses.
“If it’s in a thatched house, we understand that the ceiling is there ,” he said. “If it’s in a zinc house, we understand that the ceiling is there, so we spread sand on the floor before we lay the yams on it instead of putting them directly on concrete.”Mr Ishenge noted that farmers and traders in the state record about 40 per cent of post-harvest wastage in yam.
Until 2020, the vast market needed more basic facilities like stalls that could shield yams from unfavourable weather and simple buildings with roofs and partially open sides for ventilation that could serve as storage spaces for yams. He told PREMIUM TIMES that the yam farmers want the government to set up a yam flour industry, which he believes will help curb wastage and boost value addition.
INFOGRAPH: PostHarvest Losses: Weight loss during storage in traditional or improved barns or clamp storage. “We go as far as Benue and Abuja to buy the yam, and the way some of them are transported, there is barely enough air in the vehicles. So sometimes, they get rotten before we even get here, and you know the state of our roads,” he added.he Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute estimates that Nigeria records 50 per cent post-harvest losses in fruits and vegetables, a view shared by PLAN, which has stated that they mainly occur during harvesting, storage, transportation and processing.
“From Ogbomoso to Gambari , you’d see mangoes everywhere, with farmers placing them on the major roads as you move along. The absence of off-takers makes it difficult for those farmers to make good sales because most of the mangoes become rotten after some weeks of harvest and poor sales,” Mr Kabir added.
“The problem is multi-faceted: we have issues with seeds, storage and off-takers. Many of our people struggle to avoid postharvest losses by selling at discounted prices at Odo-Ori on market days,” he said.When PREMIUM TIMES visited some markets in Iwo and Ile-Ogbo, many farmers lamented huge losses from poor storage facilities and other logistic constraints associated with the supply of farm produce.
Traders watched waste collectors hauling baskets of spoilt oranges, bananas, watermelon, and other produce towards a waiting truck around the median strip of the Oje-Gate motorway. “Even if I want to send this fish to Lagos or the northern part of the country, I use an ice block, not a cool room. The fish will not spoil except if you don’t preserve it well or maybe leave it inside the vehicle for three to four days without adding new ice blocks,” she said.
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