Reducing Nigeria’s massive post-harvest losses
Published 17 December 2020
ASSAILED by dependence on high-priced food imports amid scarce forex resources, rising inflation and a burgeoning population, Nigeria’s food insecurity is being aggravated by acute post-harvest losses, which the Federal Government estimates at $12 billion annually. For a country labelled as the poverty capital of the world, this adds an extremely staggering burden to Nigeria’s predicament. Achieving the government’s goal of snapping the losses in half will test the country’s broken structure to the limits.
For years, Nigeria has found it tough to feed its populace because of dwindling food produce, herdsmen attacks on smallholding farmers and the decade-old Boko Haram insurgency. According to the 2019 Global Hunger Index, Nigeria’s case is progressing from a “serious to alarming level” as it scored 29.2 per cent, placing 98 out of 107 countries assessed. It means Nigeria fares better than only nine countries.