Rotten economics: Nigeria wastes half its food as millions go hungry

As much as 50% of Nigeria’s fresh produce, amounting to over N3.5 trillion ($2.4 billion) annually is lost post-harvest. Experts warn that the crisis, driven by power shortages, bad roads, and a critical cold chain deficit, undermines food security and fuels inflation. Yet, it also presents a $5.9 billion investment opportunity in storage, processing, and transport infrastructure by 2030. As the government lags on reform, private players are only just beginning to move.

Each morning, Yemisi Sunday travels 31 kilometers from Mowe in Ogun State to Mile 12 Market in Lagos State to purchase fresh tomatoes and pepper she retails in her neighbourhood.

With inadequate electricity supply to power her refrigerator, the slightest delay in selling the fresh tomatoes and pepper can reduce the value of her stockpile by at least 10 percent.

“If I don’t sell my tomatoes and pepper the same day I purchase them, there is always a huge loss from spoilage, especially during the hot periods,” Sunday said.

This is no small problem for Nigeria, where as much as 50 percent of fruits and vegetables are lost after harvesting, despite high levels of hunger and malnutrition.

The spoiled food comes largely from weak cold chain infrastructure as most farmers in Africa’s most populous nation are small producers and cannot invest heavily in cooling and refrigeration along the supply chain.

“If we are truly serious about tackling food insecurity, we must start by addressing the huge food waste we record daily,” said Abiodun Olorundenro, managing partner at Prasinos Farms.

“We are hungry, yet we waste so much food,” he said, explaining that the huge post–harvest losses recorded not only exacerbate food insecurity but also severely impact the livelihoods of countless smallholder farmers and the broader economy.

According to him, reducing post-harvest losses will help the country increase its food supply without necessarily increasing its production.

He noted that the country must commence building infrastructures that preserve food while creating an enabling environment to attract investments across the supply chain.

The federal government has made some infrastructural investments in recent years, but farmers say that the sector still lags progress.

Storage, transportation, and retail distribution of food are slowed by Nigeria’s bad roads as they are transported from the north -where they are mainly grown to the south where the markets are located.

This results in high post–harvest losses and this spoilage during transit adds to the cost of procurement, pushing up consumer prices and making it harder for traders to hedge.

Nigeria is plagued by huge post-harvest losses estimated at N3.5 trillion ($2.4 billion) per annum.

Post-harvest losses (in Nigeria) have been estimated to range between 5 and 20 percent for grains; 20 percent for fish and as high as between 50 and 60 percent for tubers, fruits, and vegetables.

“Post-harvest food losses are one of the greatest threats facing food security in Nigeria today,” said Jude Obi, president of the Association of Organic Agriculture Practitioners of Nigeria.

According to him, increasing production is not the final solution to Nigeria’s food security but complementing it with the reduction in postharvest losses through proper food handling and preservation.

The cold truth

Experts say that the country requires an improved infrastructure from storage to transportation, investments in value addition, and a public-private partnership to address the food waste problem holistically.

According to them, the country must begin now to train farmers on the effective handling of crops after harvesting to help primary producers reduce farm waste.

A 2023 report by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture puts the country’s total storage capacity at 225,000 metric tons, which experts say is grossly inadequate for a population of over 200 million people.

“Most of the food waste is mainly due to poor handling and lack of a storage infrastructure such as cold chain,” said Augustine Okoruwa, regional programme manager, Helen Keller International at a recent cold chain round table discussion.

“To address this, there is a need for farmers’ education on effective post-harvest handling of crops and investments in storage facilities such as cold chain,” he said.

He called for the deployment of cold chain infrastructure in the country, noting that some private firms are already investing in such facilities.  However, he explained that a significant gap remains between supply and demand for cold chain infrastructures.

Farmers also call for investments in value addition and close supervision of intervention programmes targeted at reducing postharvest losses to eliminate corruption.

Olorundenro called for investment in processing factories to help crush fresh produce into other uses such as paste and powder forms to increase their shelf life.

He urged the government to create a conducive environment such as a stable power supply to drive investments in value addition.

“The lack of adequate processing facilities in the country owing to power issues is also driving food waste,” Olorundenro explained.

Obi called for collective efforts toward tackling post-harvest food losses from farms to markets.

He called on the government to encourage private investment in storage and transportation to help primary producers reduce their post–harvest losses.

A N9.4trn opportunity

From developing solutions that provide automated storage facilities to manufacturing plastic crates, and transportation of fresh produce as well as investing in processing, there are opportunities across the fresh produce value chain.

A 2023 report by the IKEA Foundation and UKaid put the total industry opportunity for cold chain infrastructure deployment in Nigeria at $5.9 billion by 2030.

Both start-ups and big businesses are already seizing these opportunities. However, experts say investments are still in the nascent stage.

“We just started investing in cold storage. There is still a huge gap and this is an opportunity for businesses that can provide solutions,” said Alexander Isong, the president of OTACCWA in a recent roundtable discussion meeting in Lagos.