15 OCTOBER, 2011
S ATURD AY TRIBUNE
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Food Sectlri May Not Be Achieved Be ore 2020 pu t or estimated at seven kilogramme per Veterin."U')' Medical Association (NVMA).. is hactare and is one of the lowest in the Sub- currently estim.,led ill 10 grammes compared SM' i,rnn Africa Also, less th.,n 10 per cen t of to the FAO recommended 36 gJilmmes. irrigable k'U1<i is unde!' irriS"'tion. Howet"et, there isagrowingroncemamong Nigeria n rarmers h ave limited access 10 the Nigerian populate and it has to do with the credit with lending to agriculture. representing ever-incn:oasing pricEs ol rood ilel'ls with its ata p.;]11y 1.4 per cenl or aggregate Il'nding fur lendanl effects on almost ewry hou sehold. •__ , tI · t' Ken and 18 t Many Nigeria"" ~~ "~yu' 'g ,. gn·- ,II" ..... ;..., not"" sitywhidl enabletherountryto prucl ulEal\~de I,l0;;l01\' ..:!stXpcr cen m ya. perren ' .... ,"'''''' .... ,,-.., _ty of nnn:;and [ivestock, f,.-...., and fish.- in Brazil pcrfQllTling thceoc:pccted roJesasmudl desired, ery produ~ ~' ~l It is also estimated that U1CI'e is me exlcn· andcvcry attempt 10 u nra\'C! tI..:! re.lSOn (s) fOt' In <:nite of'these natura] endowments and sian worker per 15,001 farm households in Ni- this unfortunate silu .. tion has been .. ttrading ' T' gen.'\, compared to till'! Food and Agrirultut'e aHentioo vel. without a cnncrete soIulion. · tion(rAQ)bestract ' e s t i l f Themi.;,,,,andrccumn·gno_tion on the ravouroblc a@l'O'"eC'O[ogies.Nigeria isstillfarl"'lrrr.unLSil from atlruninr; sustainable agricultural deve!- ...... ' b · p Ice ma e 0 '- 'ho .,-op menl. l1le (~ Gl.nib rood pmduction has OIle to 500- 1001 (ann hOU5('holds. l1lere are lir:t> of many lvevet'is: "When would Nigenot kepi piIO!"\~'ith li~ growing needs of the also about:J),(XX) trnctOfS_-::::-::--:_-::_ ____ ffiru·a~~.ood.suffiOentand I'oodsepopuL'l.OOn. Trw:.- country continues to import for 14 m illion farming It:... agricultural fitW m.,teri.;]s. households in N igeria. - 0 --' Goingbythcsubmi5sioncredAgricul tul'e plays the most d c tenninant Intem'lSofagricultur.t1 ltave aaESS ilcd to Dr. Gabriel Akinboye long-term rol'! in the N igerian ~nomy. itC- pfO('('SSing. Nigeria loses '-- --J:t Oluwata;iTl. a prin01X'1 research ruuntingror4llperrentofGrussDomesticProd- signHiGl.n l va lue of beIU Ut'Ul fellow in Soil Sww}' and land uct (GOp) and providing 8) per celli o f em- tW'een 15 to 40 per cent o f m g ' ID avrirullure Evaluation al til(! Institute 0{ I\gploymenl Indeed. agriculture bellies tilt' veri- its pos t-harvest ou tputs -0-ricultural Research. and Traintable growth reserves to dri ve Nigeria's ceo- due 10 many factors rangpallIy ing (JAR &. T). Ap.,ta, rbadan. (Ollie greatn:ss. ing from poorornon-ec:isOyoStal(', lack of 10 food But Nigc(h's amble land, going by e-qlf'fIs' tent rood·,;,. tluough poor -00-and il<lavailability is of great ronrem to Nigeria and a fundamcnsubmissions. still rem.,in grosIy underutilisOO practil1!S to lack o f pmwi tll cn.ly 32 million hCCUlres or 46 per cent of cessing facilities. I_ I the ta [ dt..'1\lenge to human welfare its iffilble [111'1'1 und er cultiv<1ooll. Close to IX) Not only U,ilt, ill live- LIt:lOW six and ecmom.ic gruwth. pe!'ffntof th s isacrountcd fur by households stock production, loca l Low agriculturnt produc.tiOl\ w ith less than two hectares under-croppirog, supplies.'15 experts exB'--!J " Ilt' said. results in low incorne5, with r~nn si::es muging from 0.5 hectares in p [ained,. have been in."KIu=LU :.IifaL. ["CNX nutrition, vulnerability 10 ~. I .• nortIl. equatewitl\an ""·m.,lcd - --.=:::c::.:=-= ===---- •.,.;.,t.a ...··-..i.oI-.. ......... \-....-l SoulhemNiferiatoluurlCdaresinu..:! "'..................... ·· 'r - ·"""~' Inputs supply to ralT1~ acmrding to ilgri- 3OperCl:.'fltoflivesiocksiaughlersimported from the New Partnersh ip lOr Africa'sDe\-elopment rulturee<petlS. have been abysmaUy low. neighbouring countries. The daily animal pro- (NEPAD~ in Dr. Oluwatosin' sopinion taJgets and of poarqualily. Not only that. ferbliserron- tcin illiake per head per- d.'y. as explained b)' iln a....-crnge annual illO't"ilSe of six per cent in 5umption in ~jgeria. ~"g"' loCex""".",. ~"'~"-_"' _Q,, __""' _ _a_ "_,k_'_ ,-udIke. _ ·__I_\ _ _· __" _N-..:lgen _·,_,_, _ agrirultwal productivity to ensure food 5CC\J.
B;t Seye Adeniyi GERlA is, indeed, a blessed nation. lhc u)tmtry is endowed w ith abundant I.atural re!IOW"CeS. , l-ele include 68 million hec':ares or amble land,. rresh watersburccs co\'ering 12 million hedaT1!S; 960 ki of nd cal 'Iometres coastJine a an eroIogi diver--
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"NJPPri1Ul fam1e.rs lUnited m·tl, Jend-
representing a
1.4perCf71tof:lO"P'TFloga12lending f1lr per CE1lt in KenW1 and 18per
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am
aaess
rity and sustained nalional economies. in the nation's agriru ltUJ"a\ sector. postharvest h.-mdling is tI'lCsliIge of crop production immccii<1tel)' following l""vest. induding drying. tllreshing, cleaning, sorting, p.xking and cooling. Immediately a crop is removed from the ground. or 5ep<'lr.1te:1 rrom its parent plant. it begins to deteriorate. Postharvest trea lmen t largely detcnnines final ' lua1ily, whether a aop is !!Old for fre5t, ronsumpt'oll. or used as an ingredient in a processed food
prod""Speaking with fngineer Anthon)' Egb.'\ tile Nation'll Secretary of Agricul1ural Madlineries itnd Equ ipment Fabricators Association of Nigeria (AMENFAN). he explained that one ol Ill(' map.- d...,tJeng-es facing food production ill Nigeri., is the sue of post harvest 10S9l'S of our ilgria.ollur.\1 produces.. Nigeria produces so much food crops but mast of them are lost during harvest and othef'S are lost as a result of poor handling and poorer storage facilities. ''So much emphasis h ad been p li\C'Cd on intCl15ive land dearing. rertili7..er d istribution and other in puts, al highly su bsidised costs wi th very' [iiUe o r no attention paid to poetha,-,,'t'Sl loss p~tion. Whereas. no matter the IOllnageoffood th.,t }"Oll produce. ir you are un..,ble to store tlll'Ill 01' add value 10 Ihis food product by partial or full pl'OO."SSing.. t1~ will still be food shortage and !Qrcly. [n Nigeria. the,!IE'('OIld biggest economy III Sub-Saharan Arne... ~ easily e:cn"ed llll('tI\iJtI for 111,'11)' CTOpS.'" he slated. 11\e Food and Agricultme Organis., tit>n
(Continued on
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e 7)
SATURDAYTR!_B_U__ N E~~_-_______________ IW,~ •.. ~~
HOV\TNigeria Can Cwtail Post-Harvest Losses (Continued fmm page 6) (FAO) and the W('.1d llnn k are OlOUltly urging Nigeria and uther StIb-S1harn n AFriGln counlries to invest in post·harvest tedmolog:ie) in " toic1 lo reduce fOl:ld \os:les th at rould significanlly increase their food supply. TI tis is ront..'lined in a new FAOI
wastage IS not ~ mlled 10 the fa rm a lo ne bul dun ng
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trnnsportation. 1'here are a lot of ",astages as a result of poor
roads, wrong pock:Iging and wrong vehicb. World Bank rq."C'ft Ih3t WiIS ~·d ~Uy. '1f you also go through Olr TIlE' n:.-port, enlill!!d: ' 'I\.1issing FoocI: The Case of Postha,,'31 markets, you will see fruit. GRin l..oseE:s !n Sut--5<IhMiln A!riGl. .. pn JCllnd in m llabor.ltion vegetableS and tubers wasting with the United ~~ngdom's Naruml Resources Institu te, all over the place,"Engineer estimates the \'altle of post-ha rvest grain \csses in sub-Slharnn Egba lamented. One of the AfliGI at ,m."Jntl ! Ibn (aL"'Ollt N6fXhn) a year. 'This lost food major problems that lead to Ct>llid lOeet'\hc millirnulll 2Ilnual food le<J,ui.rements of at 1ec'\5t post-harvest losses is the 48 miU m p 20ple " said FAQA.-=sistal'! Director- General, Maria problem of nwkets in Nigeria.. Helena Scn1'?dc. For most of the (ann produa'S, Egoo further e: plajned that Hlf we agree that sltstainable ~lt' fiifID'!lS are ill the mercy of agricultuml systen :; need to be developed to fucd nine billion the m jdd lemen who ta kl' F«'P1e by 2050, ""'dressing waste acra;s U'lE' entire food main a d vantages of the highly must be a critiCill pilla r o f fu tu re nationa l food st'fil tegies." perish able na tu re of the Acrordi ng ttl eslir late; provided by lI'e Nrican Post·h.m :cst unprocessed crops to offer the U>SSeS Inform ati"n System . p hysical grain losses prio r 10 farrroers ridicuJous prires for their prtlU'SSingrnn rnn.;e from to percen t hl20 perO?fll I\1.,prGlllSES of poot.J\ilJ'VeSl ~ asexplained b)' Nation..,l Nigeri.1 produ(e5 a wkle variety ol fruil,s including citnlS, Secretary of AMEFAN. include the follo\ving but not limi tcd to mango, pilwJXlw, guava. pineepple. banana and walermclon. l1te rountry is alfO a IE"iIding prod ucer of ~ and larse They are premature harvest. poor threshing. insufficient amountsof tt lOla lO':~ plantain,. onions, okra and otherveget'lbJes. drying, pooreql.lipment. iI1SUfficienl deMing. bini att:d, rodent Ffl'5h fm its ami vegetables are. il1herently m ore liable to attack insect iltl;w;k, poor packaging. tmnsport. mKro-org., nism de(erioT7ttill" lIn(h tropical oondi tiorcs dwac terised by high ,,(tack. bioche mical changes. inadequilte s iorage' ,tmnsport ambient tct11pemtn res and humidi ty, and a high inddenre of techniques.. poor ma rketing and ~ distribution systen\ . pests and disease-. CcmsequenUy, poslha,,'t5i: kees of fru its Poor power supply and \~t..,bles are extrerncly high in Nih>eDa (.JJ to .50 percent~ " II Hour to ntinintQz post-llarvrst ~ In order to Posih.1tVt'5t m'!Sarea great Uveat to £ocxt serurity in Nigeria. minimize food losses as highlighted by Egba,. a ppropriate It leads 10 bud ~,jty d u ring theagria lltu ral off Sll'i15(l(1.. If one solutions must be proffered for the "bove causa Par.IIT1Qu nl tron 1±; l'OUre.1tl,iim..Ulhy when a partkulill";,griwItural prod uct ilmong the various!Dlulion'i 10 pa>t-harvest losses is loencoumge is in ~ one \\' ;0 5e!alotof such p«JClUd:i rotting away. For farm gale partial o r com plete p rocessing of lhe agricul lural e-.ample, more II'I<n 50 percmt of mangoes. 20 to3J per rent of . p rod uce. Stra tegies fo r improving handl ing o f agricultura l tomatoes nnd 30 per Ct!llt o f gr.lins are wasted d uring their perishables in Nisena should include: seil~ons in N igeria . • AppI iGlUon of currenl kr~\\' lcdge 10 im plt)\"e the Iwtdling If our crops al e'Wcl.l handled using the appropriate post. systmts of horticultural periSmIe; and assuring their quali!), h" I"<est tech nolog y, it is very possible to ea t fresh mav..e and tnangoI'S round ~\E" year. t he most p.1i1lfu l aspect is that this th e sodo-econo m ic constrai nts, such as
inactequacies of infr.\Slnlctu res,. poor marketi ng ~ a!'ld l~ak research and de\'t'loprnml GlI,,1Ci!)'i and - Overcoming UlI! limitations o f small·srnle operations b' encouraging consolidation and vertical in tegra tion amofll p rod u cers and mar ket!'rs o f eadl commodity or group 0 com modities. Improvement in the agri<ultl1r.ll pn.:JCIuct VilJue chain wili also go a long wi'ly in 1'E'\111ong post~ harvcsllosses. the ten~. "ValLlCd ",in" and "su pply dlll il\" can be used itlt1?rCha,I1sc-,tiil to include production. collcctiOl\ proressing. wholesaling, m..,J retailing. as well as support functions, such .15 in pu t supply finru1dal servia!!, transport. paooging,.. and a<h'e rtising. A systematic ana1ysisof rodt rommodity production and handl il1l" system is the logkal first s tep ii, identify ing an appropriilh strntegy for reducing post·h.,","E'SI: losses. Most of the p rod u ctio n, s tor.lgc and prOCt.'SSing hOl \'I' rem ained in the hand s o f peiL"" nt famlCrs using p rimi til'''' techniqu es th a t arc grossly inefficien t, largdy u nsafe, an,i invariably uneconom ical. In Nigeria. ro.'1CI5 are not <Idequate for proper transport ('r hortiruilUlilI crops. AI5o, tr.UlSport \'ehidcs and other mod('"' cspeci.111y those suiled for fre;h horticu lttlml periSl., bk5,. <'Ire il short su pply. lliis is true whether for 10011 tll"rketing or e:"C1-'llf 10 othcrcountries. 1l'IC majori ty of producers I"we 9 n,,11 hoIdin" and cannot afIoltl to own their 0 1-\,1"1 trnrt!:po rt vchidts. ln a fl!'o' cases. marketi ng orgmli91tion.<; and roopefilti \,tS i'",\'e been ill'!'. 10 :lCCJUire tra~rt vehicles, but Ule)' cannol do much al'C'IJ
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poor road conditions. .
Marketing roopefilti\'cs should be encouraged a moo.. producers of majormmmodiliEs in imPl'l'tnnt productQl are." Su ch organi."<ltions are e5pE!rillly nee.Jed in Nigeri.1 becau~ i ' the rclalivcly small fa rnl si7.e Ad \'an "'ses or marketing cooper.\tive; illCllldc:. prol'idin~ cel1 tral accumu la ti on points for the h arvested commodity purdtasing. I",rvesting and pocking ~upprics and rn.,tcri.,\s ;'i qu<l nli ty. If Nigeria m ust becorne the It'iII gi<tlll of Africl. I\'e l11~t l" able to reed its populace "3}' weil and then be ready to fro:! II" whole of Allica. Nigcri;t nUN be able to produce and 1JnX'!':' (reduce post~h.1n't5I: losses) its agrirulhlral prodllC'l' within 1/ ..
country.
Bef~ween legal tussle and
• ..:.n;.ty govEmmen1'SmsenBlUVI J:'BP('l·F. ·i!s. d C5ig n ,,~ Ihe lMfJC5! p ... p er mill in W~t /\fricn 1lI1d nex t :.\.£ric 1'5 IiU ~l'St p 1! FE'f mil! I.!! South Africa, IWllpUl P u lp ami r.1 per Cl·tnj'<my (lI'rC), OJ;UlI 51", !e i~ in ·a surr y s l'i\te. lt has L~\'n in do lt' ru m s fuf'dcCldL~ . i he m ill >l ttt?st!= to th en"tic n 's f:U.lu re tom:\m t<tin " " b OM I 35!;ct,""nd
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N igeria n callllOt afford to produC'l'COC'OiI ... IllI ~U ruro., be...!, 10 Europe for S300Jper ton and then buy it back in chocoI.1te .~
5LOOpe< 109.
llle'n' must be a law I/Iat every produce must be ",,1rti...11 pn:xe;5Cd at least before e:port. .
In o rder to m in im ize food lo~ses, 10Gl1 p roductIo n l ' processin g equi p m ent m ust be encouraged a nd strong! supported by lI'IC go\'emrnenL r-ood proressi ng indu.strics alone GIn gil'\! jW to five mink- • Nigerians d irectly and illCtirect1}'. Tra n s portatio n , packa gin g a n ~ storage techn iqUl a re very im po r tan t in m ini m is i ng losses i n fOI ' p roductio n . Post· h .. rvest losses can a lso be ron troled in emi ts al' \'Cgd<'lbIes byenrouraging investor.;, both kw:oll and intelll"tion,' to invest,. (orexample. in fruit processing company in Og.bonlO!i Bcnue and K.,dw",. Big com panies should also be cnruurag...~ . to inl'esl in tom a toes QUming in Kano. N:ISt,rawa, and L'llh~ ci ties. Stability in power supply is Olll! of thc m:ljor (actors U"1\ Co minimize food !osseo<; ~,lIy in Ihe .HeOl of rl5h and fn._
,"""'If-N ig('ria wou ld ach ieve
roocJ secu rity, il mus t n' o n ly in c rease productiv it y, b u t l('ilrIl to utilize i111 p rese rv e all th e foods th at is prod u ced with; , Covern me nl s hou ld a iso be m ore consis ten t in poti. im p le m entati on and regu la tory activities o n agricu lt u r produce a nd s h o u ld a lso invest more on a p p ro pria l techno logy fo r the ha nd ling a nd post-hi'lrves t proc~i i o f ag ricultu r.d