Agriculture

Postharvest losses threaten food security, cost Nigeria N3.5trn annually —FG

The Federal Government of Nigeria has informed that aside the fact that post-harvest losses cost Nigeria N3.5 trillion annually, it is also worrisome situation threatening food security.

Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mustapha Shehuri, stated this during the presentation of the International Standard Organisation (ISO) Certification for Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute to the ministry in Abuja, recently.

Shehuri, noted that postharvest losses have a negative effect on the agriculture sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Represented by the Director, Lands and Climate Change Management Services in the ministry, Shehu Bello, the minister of state said ,for instance, in fruits and vegetables, post-harvest losses could be as high as 50 – 60 per cent if poorly managed, pointing out that unfortunately not much attention is paid to address the problem as much as it is done for production.

His words: “The economic cost of post-harvest losses as reported by our partner, Action Aid indicated that N3.5 trillion is lost annually. This has a negative effect on the agricultural component of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“The Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute (NSPRI) is set to address the challenge through acquisition of enabling infrastructure, tools, equipment as well as the commitment of its research team.”

Also, Shehuri noted that the accreditation of NSPRI’s laboratory was a testimony to the hard work and determination of the institute to be among the best research institutes in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Speaking on the ISO Certificate, he said: “ISO/IEC 17025 that is being received today will be useful for various testing procedures, sampling, and calibration to instill confidence in the research output.

“It is a rare feat that is achieved through the commitment of all staff under the leadership of the current Executive Director of NSPRI, Dr Patricia Pessu. “This accreditation is proof that the Ministry now has a laboratory that is acceptable, having a quality management system in place, with the ability and competence to provide testing and calibration results.

“Let me also remind you that this accreditation is not for life and could be withdrawn for any stretch of sub-standard practice, hence the institute must sustain, maintain, and improve on its service delivery.

“The Federal Ministry of Agriculture will continue to support and ensure that this institute and indeed other research institutes are regularly funded to execute their mandates.”

On her part, the Executive Director, Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute (NSPRI), Patricia Pessu, informed that the approval of the certificate would boost food export from Nigeria to other parts of the world.

She said: “With improved funding over the last four years, the institute embarked on the rehabilitation of laboratories and started the International Standard Organisation (ISO) accreditation process about three years ago.

“The process involved upgrade of laboratory facilities, procurement of equipment, standard grade chemicals, training of personnel in the various scopes and assessment by the Nigerian National Accreditation System (NiNAS).

“Today we are here to share the joy of the accreditation of our laboratory at the headquarters in Ilorin as an ISO certified laboratory (ISO 17025:2017).

“This is a great feat for NSPRI because we can now boast of a laboratory where analysis can be done with quality assurance (credible, reproducible, robust, and globally accepted results).

“The immediate gain of this certification is that NSPRI can now be reckoned with as an institution contributing to food quality and safety in Nigeria,” Pessu added.

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