Many Nigerian farmers lose nearly half of their harvest within days due to poor storage, transportation, and limited market access. Over ₦3.5 trillion is lost annually to post-harvest waste which is enough to fund the country’s agriculture budget for five years. Perishable crops like tomatoes and vegetables are most affected, leading to food loss, reduced income for farmers, food inflation, and economic setbacks.
Harvesting crops before they reach maturity to avoid pest attacks or inclement weather is bad agronomic practice that leads to reduced yield and poor quality produce. Crops harvested too early have lower weight, nutritional value, and market appeal.
Delaying harvest beyond the optimal period exposes crops to prolonged field exposure, increasing vulnerability to pests, diseases, and adverse weather such as flooding or drought. Late harvesting can cause over-ripening and spoilage.
Nigeria’s transportation system is a major hindrance in the agricultural value chain. Poor road conditions, inadequate vehicles, and long travel times delay moving produce from farms to markets.
High transportation costs and unofficial levies increase the price of food and reduce farmers’ profit margins. The lack of temperature-controlled transport and poor packaging further increases in-transit losses.
During harvesting, handling, and transportation, crops often suffer mechanical damage such as bruising, crushing, or breakage. Such damage compromises the physical integrity of the produce, making it more susceptible to microbial infection and faster spoilage.
Physical deterioration includes spoilage from heat exposure, moisture, and microbial activity. Inadequate storage facilities and poor handling practices accelerate deterioration. Exposure to the sun and flooding has destroyed large portions of crops like rice and cassava in Nigeria.
But there’s a solution: processing. Crop processing is the handling, preparing, and treating of harvested crops to improve their quality, shelf life, safety, and value before reaching consumers or industries. Crop processing could be primary (shelling, threshing, destoning, cleaning, drying, grading, etc) or secondary (cooking, fermenting, roasting, grinding, packaging), which involves value addition.
Turning raw crops into finished products like beverage powder, garri, tomato paste, or dried vegetables helps maintain food integrity, reduce waste and increase profit margins from local and international sales with much greater standards than raw crops could satisfy. Fresh leaves on Day 7 post-harvest equal full market crop value and full nutrient value for consumers.
Raw agricultural crops are highly perishable, and some deteriorate rapidly if not promptly processed. Cassava is a prime example. It begins to spoil within 48 hours of harvest if left unprocessed. However, when converted into garri, cassava’s shelf life is significantly extended, lasting a few months. This transformation preserves the crop through effective drying and converts it into a readily consumable and marketable form.
Drying as preservation and processing also works for tomatoes and peppers, keeping them fresh during storage or transportation. Other processing methods, such as fermentation, freezing or even simple sun-drying, are extra fortification for farmers at the negotiation table. Fresh food presented in forms that save retailers or final consumers hassle increases farmers’ boldness.
Raw foods sometimes contain chemical sprays or dangerous bacteria. Unprocessed cassava contains cyanide that is removed by soaking and fermentation. When improperly processed, soaking and fermentation fail to break down cyanogenic compounds found in cassava, pap, and locust beans, leading to health risks such as nerve damage, and thyroid issues, including goitre, neck swelling.
Germs in fruit, milk, and vegetables are eliminated by heat-based methods such as boiling or pasteurisation. Pasteurisation is a method specific for perishable foods such as fruit juices, milk, and some vegetables. It involves applying food-specific heat levels. Unlike boiling, it is gentler, ensuring the food remains safe while retaining its original flavour and nutrients.
Think of the hours spent peeling, grinding, or cooking raw ingredients. Processing simplifies this. Pre-picked and destoned beans save chore hours, and tomato paste saves households the trouble of grinding fresh tomatoes daily. Ready-to-cook garri or pre-packaged spices reduce kitchen prep time, making life easier for busy families. By making food convenient to cook, farmers can add value and charge premium prices for it.
Some processing methods make food more nutritious. The fortification process assists consumers’ nutrient profile by adding vitamins and minerals. Popular examples are vitamin A, iron, and calcium. Fermentation of ogi has been known to increase its protein content, just as processing moringa leaves into powder preserves their nutrients longer than when they are fresh. Farmers who can guarantee this are in serious business.
Farmers should remember that presenting food in well-packaged form increases their perceived value. Many shoppers have seen that one crop or food is uniquely packaged so that the shopper checks unique packaging, which makes them check products twice.
Garri served in a parfait cup next to sachet-sealed groundnuts captivates customers and encourages them to spend more than they would on generic alternatives. Enthusiastic buyers are willing to pay for the added value and the experience and narrative behind the product. Furthermore, eye-catching packaging and a robust supply chain strategy allow these products to reach premium supermarkets and even international markets.
Turning yams into flour or soybeans into milk not only benefits farmers, but it also creates opportunities for others. Small processing centres hire people for tasks such as grinding, peeling, and packaging. In contrast, larger factories offer quality control, marketing, and logistics positions. For instance, cassava currently provides food and income for over 30 million farmers, large numbers of processors and traders, and two million more would be employed if the inherent opportunities of cassava cultivation are fully tapped.
This addresses the unemployment crisis and retains money within rural economies. Additionally, revenue can be generated from waste and byproducts of processed foods. With a little processing, onion skin can be an effective mosquito repellent. Cassava peels can be transformed into animal feed, mango seeds can be processed into oil, and damaged grains can be repurposed into biofuels. Date seed powder is also a potential nutrient-rich commodity. The goal of every processing effort should be to convert crops into cash. As Adeola Balogun, CEO of Lim Lim Foods remarks, “we have a lot of [food] raw materials that we shouldn’t be exporting as raw materials.”
For Nigerian farmers and agribusinesses, processing isn’t optional, it’s essential. It slashes losses, boosts incomes, and meets the demands of modern consumers. Every step post-harvest adds value, whether drying, milling, or bottling palm oil.
Start small if you must, but start today. Allowing crops to deteriorate in storage is not an option. By processing their products using modern technology, farmers can create profitable, shelf-stable items that contribute to food security both nationally and internationally.
