Energy efficient cooling systems can reverse Nigeria’s 80% loss of food produce  

Due to lack of proper cooling and refrigeration infrastructure, Nigeria is losing about 80% of her food produce annually contributing significantly to a global annual loss of over 750 billion dollars.

Youseef Zitouni, Danfoss group sales manager, Middle East and Africa, made this assertion at the company’s official unveiling event with the theme “Engineering Nigeria for a BetterTomorrow,” that held at Eko Hotels & Suite in Lagos, on February 17.

He said to combat this trend, the company is providing components that will aid commercial and industrial cooling systems using energy efficient means. The company is also producing energy conservation components for Nigeria where intermittent power supply is the norm.

“Nigerian and majority of African countries are producing food, vegetables and meat but they are wasting more than 80 percent because the food is not kept in cooling systems for local consumption and export.”

A 2013 Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) report corroborates Zitouni’s claim. The report noted that about 1.3 billion tonnes of food waste is reported annually around the world at a direct economic cost of $750 billion.

The report further noted that while about 54% of the world’s food waste occurs “upstream during production, post harvest handling and storage, only 46% happens ‘downstream,’ at the processing, distribution and consumption stages. Food losses and waste are, therefore, not only causing major economic losses but also wreaking significant harm on the natural resources that humanity relies upon to feed.

Danfoss Group, with headquarters in Denmark is a global leader in energy efficient solutions, providing accessories and components for industrial and commercial refrigeration. The company’s core areas of focus are providing commercial and industrial air conditioning and cooling systems, sales and maintenance of drives and components for heating and cooling systems and components for renewable energy solutions.

According to Levant Tasken, group regional president, Turkey, Middle East & Africa, the company operates in 25 countries, employing 24,000 people and produces approximately 250,000 components each day at the company’s 76 factories.

The company said it was concerned about the menace of fake products and is partnering with Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON), and Nigerian Association of Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Practitioners (NARAP) to combat the trend.

“People are importing fake products in the market and the end users do not know. They know Danfoss but they don’t know this is original or fake so by this event we are showing them how to differentiate original product from fake ones.

When you use a fake product this is disaster because it will destroy your radiation systems or air conditioning systems, it will cause you more power consumption,” said Zaid Al-Bawaliz, director sales & marketing, Middle East & Africa, Refrigeration and Air-conditioning.

The company is also carrying out training and enlightenment programs to educate their end users about identifying their original products. Zitouni said of the company’s strategy, “We are doing a lot of face-to-face meetings and through events like this. We are offering free training for people from

Nigeria if they go to our website and register they can get a comprehensive course on cooling and refrigeration. We have around 300 modules they can download for free. So once you do up to hundred modules, you will develop the expertise to handle cooling and refrigeration systems.”

 

 ISAAC ANYAOGU