The Nigeria Cold Chain Development Association (NCDA) has said that technology and innovation are critical for the development of the country cold chain industry.
The association made this known to BusinessDay during its inaugural quarterly meeting held in Lagos recently.
“Technology is very critical for the development of the industry and that is why we have being to identify off grids solutions in addressing some of the challenges we face in the cold chain industry,” said Henrii Nwanguma, convener of NCDA.
“The heap of post harvest losses in the market and farmlands can actually be captured via biogas and used as a fuel source to power cold room, so we are using a problem to solve a problem.
“The backbone of an effective cold chain industry is the availability of power supply. With off grid solutions this challenge can be addressed,” said Nwanguma
According to him, there has been increasing attention on addressing the issues with post harvest losses over the last two years. He noted that much more still needs to be done in the area of infrastructure and technology for the growth and development of the industry.
“We have still not paid enough attention to post harvest loss in the country. We need to start developing our infrastructures to help drive investments in the country’s cold chain industry,” he said.
The association said that the country can reduce its post harvest with an efficient and well developed cold chain industry. They noted that the ultimate goal of cold chain is to safely and consistently deliver desired fruits and vegetables quality from harvest to consumer.
Also speaking during the inaugural meeting, Augustine Okoruwa, senior project manager, agriculture and nutrition programme, Postharvest Loss Alliance for Nutrition, said efforts are been made to reduce the country’s post harvest losses through the agriculture for nutrition programme by Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition.
“There is an off-grid power plant that is use to power a 45 metric tonnes capacity cold room in Jos, Plateau state which can be replicated across the country,” Okoruwa said.
Josephine Okojie
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