Nigeria loses N300bn onion annually to post-harvest loss, says processors

By Onome Amuge

Nigeria is ranked the third largest onion producing country in Africa with  an estimated production of two million metric tonnes of onions worth N700 billion annually, but over N300 billion perish annually as a result of post-harvest loss, due to  lack of modern storage facilities and effective processing plants.

Isah Aliyu Sa’idu,the national president of National Onion Producers Processors Marketers Association of Nigeria (NOPPMAN), stated this during the inauguration of the first indigenous onion and garlic processing plant in Sokoto, the country’s largest onion producing state.

According to Sa’idu, Nigeria still imports onion flakes into the country due to the lack of processing factories which he said was at the detriment of farmers and traders who are only able to process about 40 per cent of total production.

The NOPPMAN commended the efforts of the  Africa -Generic Synergy Farmwith Limited, Chimbilco  Technical Nigeria limited and Sokoto investment and properties Limited, the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) and other stakeholders behind the establishment of the new plant.

He pointed out that the processing plant is the first of its kind in Nigeria and is aimed to reduce post harvest loss by onion and garlic farmers in Sokoto and other states of the northwest where the products are cultivated in large quantities. He also assured that farmers especially in Sokoto State and its immediate environment will benefit immensely from the project.

Hussaini Ibrahim, the director-general of Raw Materials Research And Development Council, while commissioning the plant,  said the inauguration of the factory marks an important milestone for the manufacturing industry in Nigeria.

Ibrahim, who was represented by Emmanuel Ilyasu,the director, information and computer department, expressed delight  that the plant was designed and fabricated by Nigerian engineers following the call by the council to reduce the perennial post-harvest wastages associated with onion and garlic.

In his words, “The RMRDC in collaboration with Afri-Generic Synergy Farms Limited, Chimbilco Technical Nigeria Limited and Sokoto State Investment and Properties Company Limited has assiduously worked to see to the objective of processing onion and garlic into flakes on industrial scale following successful R&D by the Council’s in-house research team.

“We hope that this project will spin up other plants as we continue to develop the process technology, especially in Sokoto State and its environs where onion and garlic are largely produced.

“We hope that this plant will create job opportunities for Nigerians, both in the short and long term. I commend the partners and investors who have made this project a reality. They have shown confidence in the Nigerian can-do spirit and have taken concrete steps to help see our R&D results in onion and garlic processing reach their full potential. I urge other investors to follow their example.”

The RMRDC DG commended the effort of the Sokoto State Government, noting that the state has enabled the council to effectively discharge its mandates in the state and has also benefited from its projects.

“I am very optimistic that our continuous collaboration would yield mutually beneficial outcomes,” he added.