Agriculture: Nigeria loses over N3.5 trn annually due to lack of preservatives.

IDRIS AHMED, Lokoja.

Nigeria looses over N3.5 trillion worth of crops after harvest annually across the nation as farmers lack facilities to preserve crops after harvest, Action Aid an international Non Governmental Organization NGO has revealed.

The food and agriculture programme Manager, ActionAid Nigeria, Mr Azubike Nwokoye disclosed this on Tuesday in Lokoja, during a stakeholders consultative meeting on the Kogi state 2024 agriculture budget organized by Kogi state Budget Committee Group (BCG) and Small Scale Women Farmers Organization in Nigeria (SWOOFON) in collaboration with Kogi State Ministry of Agriculture with support from ActionAid Nigeria.

According to him, the loss was affecting the national economy adversely, noting that the analysis which was based on survey conducted by ActionAid revealed that out of the N3.5 trillion loss, Kogi state alone looses a minimum of N93 billion annually.

He called on the Federal and State governments to urgently invest vigorously in small cottage processing and storage facilities in rural communities to tackle the challenges of postharvest losses experienced by smallholders women farmers across the country.

“This figure is actually an estimate from the Federal Government itself. But what we have done is a further analysis to show states how big these N3.5 trillion is. Because what is happening is also when state governments hear N3.5 trillion annually, they assume it is Federal Government problem, but Federal Government does not have land.

“The lands are in the states and these losses are at the state level. So, we’ve done analysis for instance, taking the N3.5 trillion and sharing it on equal basis across the 36 states as well as the FCT and Kogi has a share of N93 billion” he said.

In his welcome address the Chairperson, Kogi Budget Committee Group, Mr Mathias Okpanachi, said the meeting and discussions are not merely dialogues, but aimed at building blocks of a sustainable, resilient future for agriculture in Kogi state.

“Our collective knowledge is a powerful tool, and together, we have the capacity to cultivate innovation, address challenges, and sow the seeds of progress” he stated.

The Kogi State Coordinator of Small-scale Farmers Organisation In Nigeria (SWOFON), Hajiya Rukayat Ahmed, in her remarks called for elaborate participation of women in agriculture and solicited for the release of money meant for women in agricultural budget to enable them make more impacts in carrying out agric activities.