Post-harvest losses worsening Nigeria’s food insecurity —Agric Minister

THE Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohammed Abubakar, has said Nigeria’s food insecurity is worsened by post-harvest losses estimated at billions of naira annually.

The minister stated this recently in Kaduna during a workshop on post-harvest management and value-chain financing, jointly organized by the Kaduna Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (KADCCIMA), and the Raw Material Research and development Council (RMRDC). According to the minister, who was represented by Mishel Alao, an official of the ministry, the root causes of post-harvest losses in crops, livestock and fisheries, are lack of modern post-harvest equipment, chemicals and lack of technologies used for combating losses.

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He noted that the post-COVID-19 situations, herdsmen clashes, decade-old Boko Haram insurgency, bandits and flooding ravaging most farms are also part of the causes.

The minister explained that the 2019 Global Hunger Index shows that Nigeria’s case is progressing from a “serious to alarming level.”

Meanwhile, he said the workshop would galvanize the effort of all tiers of government towards promoting the socio-economic development of Nigeria, adding that the essence of the workshop is to brainstorm on post-harvest management and value chain financing.