The Federal Government, FG, has launched a comprehensive initiative, the Nigeria Post-harvest Systems Transformation Programme (NiPHaST), to address the significant challenge of post-harvest losses and bolster the nation’s food security.
The announcement aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s “Renewed Hope Agenda” and aims to reduce poverty, enhance economic growth, and achieve food and nutrition security.
Speaking at the Nigeria Legacy Programme, organised by the Africa Food Systems Forum in partnership with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) in Dakar, Senegal, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, stated that NiPHaST is designed to create a resilient, efficient, and inclusive post-harvest system.
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Kyari said the programme’s primary goals are to reduce losses, increase farmer incomes, and achieve national food sovereignty by stabilising food prices and ensuring the availability, accessibility, and affordability of staple foods.
According to Kyari, the initiative will focus on a multi-pronged approach, including household-level storage technologies, community-based warehouses, cold rooms, and strategic national silos that will be managed through public-private partnerships.
The programme is expected to unlock significant private sector investment, strengthen market confidence, and expand storage infrastructure across the agricultural value chain.
The minister highlighted that the program will stimulate robust investments in processing, preservation, packaging, and marketing, including the use of climate-smart metal silos and cold rooms.
Kyari emphasised that these measures will not only improve agricultural exports, nutrition, and household sales but also create job opportunities and increase farmer wealth, thereby achieving food import substitution.
Kyari revealed that Nigeria currently loses an estimated ₦3.5 trillion annually to post-harvest inefficiencies, with a disproportionate impact on smallholder farmers.
“This is not just produce going to waste. It is an opportunity lost and livelihoods destroyed,” he stated.
The minister called for stronger international collaboration to transform post-harvest systems, which he believes will secure farmer livelihoods, revive agribusiness confidence, and position Nigeria as a leading food supplier in West Africa.
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The event was attended by notable officials, including Jigawa State Governor, Umar Namadi; Minister of Livestock Development, Mukhtar Maiha; Senior Special Assistant to the President on Agribusiness, Kingsley Uzoma; Executive Secretary of the National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF), Mohammed Ibrahim; and President of the Nigeria Agribusiness Group, Arc. Kabir Ibrahim, among others.
