Agribusiness expert, Dr Prince Ajisefinni Ayodeji Tajudeen has urged the Nigerian and state governments to invest in specialised post-harvest storage facilities and strengthen farmer-herder collaboration to tackle food insecurity.
Ajisefinni, Proprietor of Enterprise Grooming Institute, an NBTE-accredited private agribusiness skill acquisition and enterprise development centre in Ilorin, Kwara State capital made the call in an interview with newsmen in Ilorin.
He said “reducing post-harvest losses and addressing persistent conflicts between crop farmers and livestock producers were critical to ensuring that increased agricultural production translated into sustainable food security.”
According to him, Nigeria could not afford to focus only on production while allowing large quantities of agricultural produce to perish after harvest.
“There is no way farmers can do it all. We need private-sector investors and government as a whole,” he said.
Ajisefinni, who is also Deputy President (North) of the Nigeria Association of Small and Medium Enterprise Farmers, advocated a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model for the development of specialised agricultural warehouses.
He urged state governments to establish properly equipped storage facilities for perishable and other agricultural commodities where farmers could preserve their produce pending favourable market conditions.
“Warehousing of agricultural produce is not the same as warehousing of ordinary goods and services,” he said.
Ajisefinni also appealed to private investors and high-net-worth individuals to invest in agricultural storage infrastructure, saying such facilities would help preserve farmers’ income, reduce wastage and improve food availability.
The agribusiness practitioner said that “post-harvest losses often begin with poor planning before cultivation.”
Ajisefinni urged farmers to identify their target customers, understand their purchasing power and determine the quantity required before planting.
“As a good agribusiness practitioner, you need to know your customers and their tastes and the quantity required before you go and cultivate and plant, so that you will not plant for unknown markets,” he said.
He stressed that agriculture should be approached as a business, with farmers making adequate provision for water, security, transportation, storage and other logistics.
Using tomatoes as an example, Ajisefinni explained that “proper harvesting and handling could help extend the shelf life of perishable produce.”
He said farmers should understand the appropriate maturity stage for harvesting rather than waiting until tomatoes were fully ripe before transporting them to distant markets.
