Experts and stakeholders in Nigeria’s agricultural sector are calling for greater investment in technology to preserve farm produce and reduce post harvest losses.
They made the call at a forum on food security and mechanised farming in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
Participants at the forum were drawn from academia, farming communities and other segments of the agricultural value chain.
They expressed concern over the volume of agricultural produce lost after harvest each farming season and the impact on farmers’ incomes and food availability.
The stakeholders say adopting modern preservation, storage and processing technologies could significantly reduce wastage, extend the shelf life of agricultural produce and strengthen Nigeria’s food security.
They also argued that reducing post harvest losses would ensure that more of what farmers produce gets to consumers, while improving returns for farmers.
The stakeholders called on governments at all levels, research institutions and the private sector to collaborate in developing and deploying technologies for preserving agricultural produce.
They said greater investment in storage and processing could reduce losses along the agricultural value chain and improve the availability of food.
The participants also urged the Federal Government to demonstrate the political will to develop and implement an indigenous technology policy capable of supporting local solutions to Nigeria’s agricultural challenges.
They stressed the need for stronger collaboration among universities, agricultural research institutes and the private sector to move innovations beyond research institutions and turn them into commercially viable technologies that farmers and other players in the agricultural value chain can use.
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Editor: Ada Ononye
