Nigeria is estimated to be losing N3.7 trillion annually due to wastage arising from improper storage of foods.
Chairman, Governing Council, Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology (NITT), Mr. John Onojeharho disclosed this while speaking at the 8th Nigeria Annual Transport Lecture held in Lagos at the weekend.
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He said, “Nigeria is ranked one percent in terms of cold chain management. The market is huge and if properly tapped, we can save $9 billion annually by avoiding food wastage through proper storage”.
Onojeharho said if the 15 million metric tonnes of perishable goods wasted annually were well preserved, inflation would drop and there would be drastic improvement in the economy.
He added that Nigeria ranks 110 out of 160 countries globally in the performance index of logistics. The transport expert attributed poor cold chain logistics to lack of good road infrastructure, continuity of the cold supply chain, high capital investment, power supply amongst others.
Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi who was represented by the Executive Director in the ministry, Mr Agbaji Francis, said there are efforts by the government to improve the transport sector.
He said in the rail subsector, 859 kilometres of standard gauge rail lines have been constructed and commissioned for commercial use in the last five years.
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