The Federal government said it has perfected plans to introduce a new initiative, tagged Nigeria Postharvest Systems Transformation Programme (NiPHaST), designed to help reduce the N3.5 trillion estimated losses by Nigerian farmers annually to postharvest challenges.
The Minister, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, who disclosed this recently at the Nigeria Legacy Program, organized by the Africa Food Systems Forum in Partnership with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), in Dakar, Senegal, said the new initiative was in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, to eradicate poverty, attain Food and Nutrition Security, Economic Growth.
The agric Forum with notable delegation from Nigeria, including the Jigawa State Governor, Mal. Umar A. Namadi, Minister of Livestock Development, Alhaji Idi Mukhtar Maiha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Agribusiness, Dr. Kingsley Uzoma, Executive Secretary, National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF), Mohammed Abu Ibrahim, President, Nigeria Agribusiness Group, Arc. Kabir Ibrahim, among others, was said to be one of the priorities of the present administration in repositioning the Country’s food systems.
Kyari noted that the new initiative would be useful in strengthening household storage technologies, community-level warehouses, cold rooms, and strategic national silos managed through public–private partnerships, among others.
He further disclosed that the program would create robust investment in the storage value chain in terms of processing, preservation, packaging, marketing , climate, smart metal Silos , cold rooms, among others.
He added that the initiative would unlock private sector investment, strengthen market confidence, and expand storage infrastructure.
According to Kyari, the initiative will “ improve agricultural exports, nutrition, household sales, job opportunities, farmer’s income, and wealth as well as achieve food import substitution in the agricultural ecosystem”.
He emphasized that the initiative will mitigate Nigerian farmers’ postharvest losses estimated at ₦3.5 trillion annually. He noted that “ This is not just produce going to waste. It is opportunity lost and livelihoods destroyed,”
The Minister also called for ” stronger international collaboration, stressing that transforming postharvest systems will secure farmer livelihoods, revive agribusiness confidence, and position Nigeria as a leading food supplier in West Africa”.
