Nigeria Loses $750 Billion Food Annually Due to Poor Storage, Processing – OAUSTECH Don
Admin 29th August,2025
Nigeria is losing food worth over $750 billion annually as a result of poor storage and inadequate processing facilities, a frontline food biochemist, Prof. Foluso Olutope Adetuyi of the Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology (OAUSTECH), Okitipupa, has revealed.
The university don, who is also the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Research), made this disclosure while delivering OAUSTECH’s 8th Inaugural Lecture on Wednesday, 27th August, 2025. He stressed that the nation’s problem is no longer about producing more food, but about preventing wastage and losses caused by lack of appropriate post-harvest handling facilities.
According to him, successive governments since the 1970s have focused mainly on food security through increased production, without giving equal priority to storage and processing. He noted that one-third of food produced globally for human consumption — about 1.3 billion tonnes — is lost or wasted annually at various stages of the value chain.
“This is due to the fact that freshly harvested agricultural produce are living things that breathe and undergo physiological changes during post-harvest handling. Losses of quantity (weight or volume) and quality (altered physical characteristics) can occur at any stage,” he explained.
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Prof. Adetuyi said Nigeria’s own post-harvest food loss stands at about 30–40% of total production, translating into over $750 billion yearly. He added that tomatoes record the highest loss rate of 76%, while maize accounts for about 25%. He also recalled that Nigerian tomato farmers lost more than $10 billion in 2018, while about 50% of onions produced in the country are wasted annually.
He identified poor handling, absence of modern storage and processing facilities, inadequate packaging and poor transportation as major causes of food wastage. He emphasized that preservation and processing are crucial to ensuring food availability both in and out of season, stabilizing prices, and safeguarding nutrition.
The seasoned academic recommended massive government investment in modern storage and processing facilities, as well as access to affordable credit for farmers to adopt new technologies. He also called for stronger research-extension linkages to ensure that innovations from universities and research institutes reach farmers.
According to him, revitalizing agricultural research centres, especially the Nigeria Stored Product Research Institute (NSPRI), and promoting food science and technology education would help curb wastage by developing new ways of processing and preserving food. He further advised that intensive public enlightenment campaigns should be launched to sensitize farmers and households on proper food storage practices.
The Vice-Chancellor of OAUSTECH, Prof. Temi Ologunorisa, in his remarks, reiterated that the lecture exposed why Nigeria continues to lose a large percentage of its produce yearly and underscored the urgent need for the government to prioritize storage and processing alongside production.
“In my opinion, the Nigeria Government should pay attention not just to food production, but to suitable storage and processing facilities to reduce losses. Mangoes, oranges, tomatoes and vegetables often rot away due to lack of processing plants. Production is not our problem, but inadequate storage and modern processing,” Ologunorisa noted.
The lecture, organized by the university, was attended by academics, industry leaders, farmers, policymakers, staff and students, alongside family and associates of the inaugural lecturer.
