NIRSAL, other stakeholders move to curb PHL

Farmland

As part of efforts aimed at curbing the menace of post-harvest losses in the country, the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) is collaborating with other major stakeholders in Nigeria’s agricultural sector to build a model.

While speaking at a workshop on the proposed model, Managing Director, NIRSAL, Mr. Aliyu Abdulhameed, said the model tagged the Secured Agricultural Commodity Transport Corridor( SAT-C) would assist in addressing the challenges facing the transportation of agricultural produce in the country.

He explained that when completely implemented, the framework would reduce post-harvest losses which results from late evacuation of perishable produce from the farms, which the Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute estimated to be $8.9bn (N2.7tn) annually.

He further explained that the implementation of the model was conceived to reduce the prices of food commodities, increase food security and the contribution of the agriculture sector to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product.

Abdulhameed stated that the joint framework outcome would also promote a model that would entail the interests of all stakeholders, while the Federal Government would work on enhancing the necessary alternative transport infrastructures that would ensure hitch-free movement of produce around the country.

He assured NIRSAL’s technical and financial support for the session, pointing out that Nigeria’s estimated population of 200 million people provided a huge market for agricultural products in the country.

In his remarks, the Director, Agricultural Business Processing, Marketing and Investment, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Musibau Azeez, assured that the government would support the model with policies that would secure the emergence and operation of private sector transportation businesses.

Agencies reviewing the model are the ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Nigerian Investment Promotion Council, Joint Tax Board, Federal Inland Revenue Service, National Union of Road Transport Workers, Nigerian Governors’ Forum and the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria.