The Federal Government of Nigeria has made plans to revamp silos in the country to curb $10 billion annual post-harvest losses.
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, stated this at a high-level meeting with the delegation from the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), led by the Director-General, Jobson Oseodian Ewalefoh, yesterday in Abuja.
Kyari, in a statement yesterday by the Head of Information Department, Ezeaja Ikemefuna, said there was an urgent need to revitalise silo storage facilities in the country as a critical strategy to reduce Nigeria’s massive post-harvest losses, currently estimated at $10 billion annually.
He said, “Storage facilities are essential to our food security drive, as they directly address wastage and ensure year-round availability of staple crops.”
He said out of the 17 silo complexes concessioned to five private companies, only Flour Mills of Nigeria, which operates three silo complexes under three separate Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs), has met all conditions and is performing optimally.
Kyari explained that the ministry’s review process indicated that several concessionaires failed to put silo facilities into optimal operating condition despite earlier agreements.
Monitoring visits showed little or no progress in some facilities, with reported cases of vandalisation and perimeter fence collapse in locations such as Ikorodu and Ogoja. He added that some of the concessionaires defaulted on their payment obligations, with only Flour Mills consistently meeting performance and financial conditions.
