…as post-harvest losses stand at $10bn annually
By Gabriel Ewepu
ABUJA – THE Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen Abubakar Kyari, Monday, reaffirmed the Federal Government’s resolve to revitalize the nation’s silos concession programme in a bid to address post-harvest losses and reduce wastage.
Speaking during a high-level meeting with the delegation from the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, ICRC, led by the Director General, Dr Jobson Ewalefoh, at the Ministry’s Conference room in Abuja, Kyari said there is an urgent need to revitalize silo storage facilities in the country as a critical strategy to reduce Nigeria’s massive post-harvest losses, currently estimated at $10 billion annually.
According to him, this renewed push aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s agricultural transformation agenda aimed at achieving food and nutrition security.
He said: “Storage facilities are essential to our food security drive, as they directly address wastage and ensure year-round availability of staple crops.
“Out of the 17 silo complexes concessional 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.
“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 vandalization and perimeter fence collapse in locations such as Ikorodu and Ogoja.”
Meanwhile, according to the Minister, those of the concessionaires defaulted on their payment obligations, with only Flour Mills consistently meeting performance and financial conditions.
He also assured his ministry would work closely with the ICRC to intensify oversight function in order to enforce compliance and ensure that only competent private operators manage the nation’s silo facilities.
In his remarks, the Director General, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, ICRC, Dr. Jobson Ewalefoh also said that only private companies with real operational needs for silos should be retained.
However, Ewalefoh counseled that abandoned silos should be retrieved by the federal government, as he pointed out that some concessionaires have failed to remit required returns to government coffers.
Meanwhile, highlight of the meeting was the setting up of a committee to review contractual clauses, assess performance, and set clear modus operandi, monitoring, and evaluation, and among others.
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