Despite efforts to boost food security in Nigeria, the country is still bleeding due to the substantial amount that goes down the drain following post harvest losses every year. For instance, the country is said to have lost between N3.5 to N5 trillion naira in 2025 alone. This was made known by the Organization for Technology Advancement for Cold Chain in West Africa, OTACCWA.
The losses are as injurious to the country as they are painful to the farmers. This is because aside to the loss of revenue to the country and the draw back to efforts to produce enough food for the people, thereby ensuring food security, farmers lost a substantial part of their investments. The President of OTACCWA, Mr Alexander Isong, who made this known to the media, said, “Farmers had already invested in land preparation, seedlings, fertiliser, labour, irrigation and transport before these products were lost due to weak cold storage and logistics systems.” What makes it worse is that for those who had to take bank facilities to cultivate the farms getting money to service the loan or even pay for hired labour is a problem.
Mr. Isong who also doubles as the Country Director, Nigeria, for the World Agriculture Forum, said the challenge is not brought about by agricultural factors but also by the lack of infrastructure and the absence of storage system. He said, “In 2025, Nigeria lost an estimated 30 to 40 million metric tonnes of food to post-harvest inefficiencies across major value chains, particularly tomatoes, vegetables, fruits, dairy, meat, fish and root crops.”
The OTACCWA president said that when quantified, the amount shows the quantum of losses recorded by the country. Hear him: “In monetary terms, this translates to approximately ₦3.5 trillion to ₦5 trillion in economic losses,”
Of these losses the perishable items, like tubers, vegetables and fruits account for between 50 to 60 percent, while grains take about 20 percent and protein like fish take 20 percent. So, apart from the serious impact on the economy, local supply of the items suffers greatly. The immediate implication is the surge for import, which also causes a drain on foreign reserves.