ActionAid Nigeria, or AAN, claimed Wednesday that Nigeria’s post-harvest losses have reached N3.5 trillion yearly, endangering the country’s food security while simultaneously reducing hunger throughout the nation.
This followed the 2024 World Food Day celebration on October 16th, which had as its theme “Right to Food for a Better Life and a Better Future.” In order to safeguard the future of Nigerians, Andrew Mamedu, the Country Director of AAN, urged Nigerian companies to spend at least 10% in the agricultural sector. The gravity of the current food crisis was reflected in President Bola Tinubu’s July 2023 declaration of a state of emergency on food security, which Mamedu recognised.
He stated: “As Nigeria commemorates World Food Day 2024, ActionAid Nigeria has urged swift and significant changes in the nation’s agriculture sector, cautioning that post-harvest losses of N3.5 trillion per year jeopardise both economic stability and national food security.
This year’s global theme, “Right to Food for a Better Life and a Better Future,” is especially pertinent to Nigeria, where almost 106 million people live in rural regions and rely on an inefficient and neglected agricultural industry. The seriousness of the situation is reflected in President Bola Tinubu’s July 2023 declaration of a state of emergency on food security, but more work has to be done.
Smallholder farmers, particularly women, who are at the centre of food production, are severely hampered by the absence of investments in vital infrastructure, since 50% of Nigeria’s food production is lost to post-harvest issues. Nigeria’s budgetary allotments for agriculture continue to be dreadfully insufficient.
Each state would get N94.5 billion, more than the majority of states’ yearly agriculture budgets combined, if the N3.5 trillion in post-harvest losses were divided equally among the states and the Federal Capital Territory. “Sustaining public spending and political will are necessary to address Nigeria’s food problem. Ignoring agriculture will prolong hunger, poverty, and inequality in a country where it is the key to economic recovery.
“ActionAid Nigeria urges President Tinubu and all state governors to take immediate action on this World Food Day to guarantee that Nigeria’s agriculture sector becomes a ray of hope, prosperity, and food security for coming generations.
“Half of the harvests of smallholder farmers, who are the backbone of food production, spoil before they reach the market, leaving them impoverished.” In areas like Post-Harvest Loss Reduction (processing and storage facilities, trainings, and market access), irrigation and extension services (such as solar-powered boreholes to support year-round farming), women and youth in agriculture (including labor-saving technologies and credit access), and climate-resilient agriculture (agroecology, research, and rural infrastructure improvements), ActionAid Nigeria highlights the importance of intentional public investments.
“”Only 26% of smallholder women farmers have access to processing facilities, only 18% have adequate storage facilities, 10% have dependable transportation, 21% have market access, and 39% of these farmers receive training on reducing post-harvest losses. These statistics paint a sobering picture of the situation for these farmers.
Nigeria cannot guarantee its citizens the “right to food” without immediate action. ActionAid Nigeria emphasises that in order to achieve the goals of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, or AfCFTA, systemic obstacles that harm women farmers must be removed in order to promote equitable economic growth and the eradication of poverty.
According to ActionAid’s research, states’ Internally Generated Revenues, or IGR, may be considerably increased by making targeted investments in agriculture. States might produce billions more in IGR if they invested N15 billion a year in rural agriculture infrastructure. In addition to lowering unemployment, these investments would boost trade, increase food production, and lessen the effects of inequality and poverty in rural areas.
“”ActionAid Nigeria suggests the following to fulfil the World Food Day theme and provide long-term solutions: The agricultural industry must be given top priority by the federal and state governments, who should make significant expenditures in agroecology, processing centres, financial facilities, and irrigation.
