Investments in Warehouse Receipt Systems urgently needed to reduce food waste and post-harvest loss in Nigeria
Background and Context
Nigeria’s agricultural sector is dominated by smallholder farmers, who represents about 80% of the farmers and operate on farm sizes averaging about 2.5 hectares (Baburaand Isah, 2017). If appropriately supported, the smallholder farming sector can put the country on the path to self-sufficiency and ensure satiety for household food consumption. However, this potential is undermined by productivity challenges, high post-harvest losses and lack of commercialization. Post-harvest losses are as high as 40%, driven by poor handling techniques and lack of adequate storage facilities and infrastructure (APP, 2016). Consequently, smallholder farmers receive lower prices due to quality losses and encounter difficulty in accessing credit for their working capital needs (FAO, 2019).
