75 per cent of fresh produce perish in Nigeria– Association

The Agricultural Fresh Produce Growers and Exporters Association of Nigeria (AFPGEAN) says between 55 per cent and 72 per cent of fresh produce grown in the country perish before they can be consumed.

The Executive Secretary of the association, Mr Akin Sawyerr told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos on Monday that this was because fresh produce needed to be kept in refrigerated conditions soon after harvest.

Sawyerr said fresh produce were basically fruits and vegetables.

“Fresh produce production has the same challenges as other agricultural products but its uniqueness lies in its being very perishable.

“The issue with fresh produce in Nigeria is that there is little processing, no storage in refrigerated conditions due to lack of electricity (power) for most of the produce grown by farmers.

“We also cannot move these produce quickly from farms to supermarkets or hotels or airports, where they would be used because of poor road conditions,’’ he said.

The AGFPGEAN scribe, however, commended the Federal Government for its intention to concentrate on infrastructure in the 2017 budget, saying this was of utmost importance.

He said that Nigeria had about five times more arable land than Kenya but Kenya earned about a billion dollars in fresh produce exports to European markets annually, while Nigeria struggled to earn ten million dollars annually.

Sawyerr attributed this to lack of storage and poor farming methods.

He called on the government to ensure that its agencies and security personnel, usually encountered on the highways and at the borders, are efficient and effective in carrying out their tasks.

He said these bodies, many times, constitute roadblocks to fresh produce transportation.

“Time is valuable in the life of fresh produce.

“Where your competitor in Cameroun can do a journey in 20 minutes, you will use three hours on the road and speed is important to prevent these produce from spoiling.

“I am not talking about corruption here but about the need for these regulatory and security agencies to be sensitive and speedy in carrying out their tasks.

“This is of utmost importance,’’ Sawyerr said.

He stressed that the development of the fresh produce sector was dependent on some factors, and listed factors like power, roads, good seeds, good education in rural areas and strict regulation around farming methods.

Others, Sawyerr said, are access to finance, trade agreement with other countries, laws to do with local content, and regulations around what food products could be imported into Nigeria.


He stressed that the main aim of the association was to get farmers products to the market, wherever it might be, whether within Nigeria or outside, so those producers could actually get some return and a fair price on their efforts and investments.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tomato disease outbreak: Institute appeals for research funding

The National Horticultural Research Institute, Ibadan, has appealed for funding to carry out research and create awareness on the tuta absoluta pest on tomatoes. The Institute’s Head of Vegetable Programme, Dr Olagorite Adetula, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan on Friday that there was an urgent need to tackle the problem to save the economy. Adetula said the institute needed money to do surveillance survey of the pest/damage, ascertain the impact of the damage and proffer solution for eradicating the pest. She appealed to the Federal Government to help the institute get pheromones to lure and trap the pests and distribute to farmers. ``Spraying insecticides is not the best, the pest has high production rate, some of them can escape while spraying it and they will be resistant to the insecticide thereby causing us more cost. ``The pheromones can be used for six to eight weeks before changing it, it is very effective, the pest has short life cycle, wit...
Read more

10,000 women farmers to be engaged in ECOWAS rice project – official

Image
 Mr Richard Olafare, the President, Seed Entrepreneurs Association of Nigeria (SEEDAN) says 10,000 women will be engaged in the recently inaugurated Rice Seed Up-Scaling Project. This is contained in a presentation on the project made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday. Olafare said 8,000 youths would also be engaged in the scaling project. According to him, the number of women and youths represented 50 per cent and 40 per cent respectively of the 20,000 farmers that will participate in the project. NAN reports that the project is an initiative of the West Africa Seed Programme (WASP) in support of the ECOWAS Rice Offensive Programme that was inaugurated in 2014. Among other objectives, it is targeting the production of 60,000 metric tonnes of paddy rice for Nigeria by December 2017, using 1,200 certified seeds. The project is being implemented by SEEDAN in collaboration with the West and Central Africa Council for Agricultura...
Read more

Monsanto Nigeria Launches 3 Conventional Maize Hybrids

Maize farmers across Nigeria now have 3 high yielding conventional maize hybrids to choose from the DEKALB ® brand as Monsanto Agriculture Nigeria Limited launches 3 conventional maize hybrids. The launch held in Abuja on Tuesday May 17 2016 had in attendance farmers, development partners, government regulatory bodies and other stakeholders from both the private and public sectors of the economy. The launch of these hybrid seeds follows their registration by the National Committee on Naming, Registration and Release of Crop Varieties, Livestock Breeds and Fisheries in February 2016. The white maize hybrid, DK234 alongside the 2 yellow maize hybrids, DK920 and DK818 obtained registration approval for use in Nigeria after testing across various agro ecological zones on multi-location farms. The white maize hybrid DK234 with yield potential of 13 tonnes per hectare is well adapted for the Southern and Northern Guinea Savanna ecologies and shows tolerance to Maize Streak Virus, ...
Read more