Nigeria loses N825bn to food spoilage annually ' Institute

The Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology has raised the alarm over what it described as avoidable food wastage, with an estimated N825bn being lost annually by the country.The institute said in a communiqu issued at the end of its 35th annual conference and general meeting that Nigeria was losing in excess of 10 million tonnes of grain equivalent of food annually.The NIFST, in the communiqu, a copy of which was exclusively obtained by our correspondent, said the N825bn annual loss was due to spoilage and wastage occasioned by the lack of post-harvest management.Citing the 2010 Millennium Development Goals report, the institute said 29 per cent to 33 per cent of Nigerians lived below the poverty line/hunger threshold between 2000 and 2009.In the communiqu, which was endorsed by the National President and National Secretary of the institute, Dr. John Onoura and Dr. Kalep Filli, respectively, the body highlighted some of the negative impacts of infrastructural decay on food sustainability in Africas most populous country.It said, The infrastructure in Nigeria, being grossly inadequate or non-existent, constitutes a major cause for huge post-harvest losses, estimated at 40 per cent of the produce.Major constraints to value-addition are lack of appropriate technology, inconsistent quality, poor linkages between producers and processors, limited access to funding and inadequate infrastructure.Nigeria ranks as the worlds highest producer of cassava with about 34 million metric tonnes per annum yet, the position of this country as a producer of cassava starch, flour, chips, pellets and other derivative products is almost non-existent globally, it added.
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