According to research, about 47% of Nigerian farmers do not have access to post-harvest storage facilities. Research and strategic communications consulting firm, SBM Intel, conducted this research.
In order to reduce the losses, farmers are forced to sell their produce to other warehouses. The firm noted that this inadequacy leads to post-harvest losses, and this could get up to as much as 60% for tubers, fruits, and vegetables.
The report also gives recommendations, including reopening the border and adopting Climate-Smart agriculture, which could help with preventing food shortages across the nation. In addition, it is recommended that the government end ban on using foreign exchange to import staple crops. One of such crops is maize, which was placed on the list of items no longer eligible for forex on 14 July 2020. To help alleviate the impact of this, the government released 30,000 tons of maize for emergency reserves and approved four firms for importation of 200,000 tons. According to SBM, the same can be replicated with rice and cassava, as they are staple foods in Nigeria.
SBM Intel also recommended that wider adoption of irrigation practices be used and facilitating the provision of early maturing drought-resistant crop varieties as the best way to safeguard against crop failure and poor yields.
Some of the other challenges mentioned in the report include rising cost of inputs, inaccessibility of credit facilities, access to market, weather fluctuation, insecurity, and so on. Transporters also mention the challenges they face, which are bad roads, multiple taxes and harassment.
