Why Warehouses and Dryers Will Save Nigerian Food Systems

Africa has enough food apps already. It should have dry rooms. Cold rooms. Processing plants. The stuff that doesn't attract much attention or trend on the internet, but is crucial for preventing food from deteriorating in hot weather.

From 2012-2021, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development reports that nearly all of the N3.5 trillion worth of food we lose every year is due to post-harvest problems. About 50% of the fruits and vegetables grown in Nigeria never end up at the market, not because the farmers don't work hard, but because we lack cold storage, effective transportation, nearby warehouses and processing sites that can be scaled.

At the same time, numerous food delivery apps born in Nigeria say they will disrupt the food industry. They have strong goals in their mission statements and neat, modern user interfaces. Yet, what has been their impact? Minimal, to put it simply, when measured next to how much our agricultural value chain is lacking in Nigeria.

Nigerians still experience food insecurity, even though they use mobile applications. It's due to system and storage problems. In order to have lasting, sustainable food systems in Africa, we have to be realistic about digital tools and concentrate on building infrastructure that will last. Infrastructure, not technology, will be necessary for Nigeria's food system.

 

It�s Not How Much is Produced - it�s What Comes After on the Farm

Of its 70 million hectares of cultivable land in Nigeria, just over half or 34 million hectares, are currently being farmed. Our farmers have been hard at work producing for us. Nigeria produces the most cassava and yam in Africa, as well as plenty of tomatoes, maize and rice.

Although this is the case, Nigeria still ranks 103rd of 121 countries, according to the Global Hunger Index (2023). Why?

Close to half of what is grown is lost after being harvested, often within the first few days. Store tomatoes for only 1-2 days without keeping them in the refrigerator. Near the northern ports, thousands of metric tonnes are left to spoil before shipping them south. Once they deliver, if they do, the goods cost twice as much, half as good, and the farmer has lost everything.

- It's not a technology issue. The issue is with how the infrastructure was developed.

- Cold chain logistics is what we need, not discount coupons.

- More important than ride-hailing apps are agricultural processing plants for Nigeria.

- A functioning food supply chain requires pack houses, warehouses, roads and dryers.

 

Nigerians are Fueling Venture Capital, Not the Other Way Round

Lately, the startup scene in Nigeria has been getting noticed from across the globe. Nigerian startups collected more than $1.2 billion in venture capital last year, with a large portion going to fintech and e-commerce. The range included food apps, grocery delivery platforms, recipe apps, restaurant aggregators and startups offering logistics on demand.

Even so, only a handful of these businesses focus on the agricultural heart of the nation. Few people consider the main things holding agriculture back: losses after crops are harvested, untimely or delayed processing, poor rural facilities and nonexistent preservation facilities.

Even more troubling, a lot of apps claim to help farmers, but their effects aren't especially powerful. Even if a farmer's dashboard is neat, it's not useful if most of what is produced spoils before being sold.

We should change the way we see innovation in agriculture. Innovation is found in APIs and large backend systems, but also in solar drying, community factories, mobile cold rooms and large silos where food is stored far from cities.

It's time to move away from dreams about venture capital and instead focus on feeding real people.

 

It's Agro-Infrastructure That Brings Real Change

What hinders poverty, famine, and food loss in agriculture are the following factors:

- Cold chain storage in Nigeria has changed little: 98% of food is moved in non-refrigerated vehicles. If extra cold storage were available, post-harvest losses in Nigeria could be reduced by about 40%, says the Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute.

- The processing of agricultural produce is carried out in only 10% of total cases in Nigeria. Nations that improve their farming practices can increase value, save food longer, provide jobs and raise their export earnings.

- Many roads across rural areas are poor, raising the amount of time spent on transport and resulting in more food being spoiled during delivery. A 1% improvement in getting goods and people to or from rural areas improves net profits for farmers by 2.5%.

- Storage Facilities: We don't even have basic dry storage space. Many farmers in Benue and Kano choose to store fresh produce out in the open, so it can easily spoil.

They aren't always the most attractive things to show on social media. Still, they form the basis for food security in Nigeria and offer the key to releasing agricultural value in the country.

 

Changing Agricultural Thinking in Nigeria

So, what is the best place for the funds?

1. Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) should be supported in sharing the costs of processing plants and cold rooms in those areas with high production.

2. Government bodies need to go further than just policy guidelines and provide resources for developing transport, energy and storage infrastructure.

3. Both impact investors and DFIs should assist rural cooperatives, SMEs, and agritech companies focused on upgrading infrastructure instead of simply creating online services or platforms.

4. Large companies in the agricultural sector should improve the infrastructure in supply areas to ensure they can obtain needed supplies from smallholders.

5. Leaders in the tech space receiving funds should work closely with agricultural engineers and logistics specialists to address real problems, rather than presenting solutions just to gain investor support.

Thinking about beautiful screens isn't enough; we have to focus more on the hard work of designing systems. Our agricultural future is not in coding more apps but in choosing what tasks and projects are the hardest, heaviest and most important.

 

Developing Eco-Friendly Food Production Across Africa

Large numbers of Africans work in agriculture, which is also the most underfunded field on the continent. On average, the continent brings in $35 billion each year in food, despite having 60% of the globe's undeveloped farmland. The situation is not caused by people not having talent or ideas; it is because of insufficient infrastructure.

- Investment in cold storage for flowers and fruits has been made by Ethiopia and Kenya.

- Pack houses for smallholders have been set up by Rwanda.

- Community-based rice mills have been set up in Ghana to help lower losses after harvest and boost processing locally.

The same approach can work for Nigeria as long as we support the more technical and important efforts.

 

Conclusion

The challenge we face with Food Apps in Nigeria is not because they don't exist. They're believed to cure all problems when the real issues are elsewhere. If you don't have the right infrastructure, technology is just a knife without a handle.

Adding another food delivery company or an extra platform for farmers will not solve the problem of food security in Nigeria. Rural roads, dryers, pack houses, cold chains and processing plants are the ways it will be solved. Not by mockups, but by heavy machines. There is a slide and everything, but we stick to using steel.

So we should try to see beyond the biggest agri-tech app trend.

We should ask, Where do problems occur in the food chain, and what can be done to improve things?

Innovation isn't only about making something attractive. It helps to feed the population.

Should we want to achieve real progress, we owe it to Nigeria to focus on infrastructure for agriculture instead of fad technology.

It's necessary to shift away from fixing problems using digital tools.

It's now time to develop a sustainability strategy from start to end.