Post-harvest losses in Nigeria continue to increase every year but the Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute (NSPRI) is coming to the rescue with a free distribution of 100 hermitic drums. It is believed that this new technology will greatly aid the agricultural sector in the country.
The current loss in post-harvest is estimated at about 3.4 trillion Naira. The statistic is based on the figures released by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD). This new technology drive is said to be capable of accomplishing Sustainable Development Goals 1, 2, and 3.
Nigeria is headed toward a serious problem when it comes to food security, the same as other countries in the world. The fear is raging in the country as other economic challenges also increase.
In Nigeria, many rural farmers suffer from low outputs because of reasons like lack of logistics facilities and services, access to markets, and limited knowledge of post-harvest loss reduction strategies. The best some of these farmers could do is resort to the use of dangerous chemicals that could pose further life-threatening dangers to human health.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has said that reduction in food losses will go a long way in benefiting farmers and leading to strong environmental benefits as well.
In addition to that, investing in getting more of the final product is better quality to the consumer is vital in ensuring higher food and nutrition security. Farmers will benefit from having improved diets because of increased food availability and higher incomes from agriculture proceeds.
The mass importation of food in the country is a direct result of local farmers’ inability to protect produce stored in warehouses from rot. This is the main reason why the NSPRI has commenced the use of hermitic steel drums for storage of dried durable products. The first batch of these drums have already been rolled out to rural farmers recently, and more farmers in the country stand to benefit from the move by NSPRI.
