“Researchers across the globe have concluded that the major problems confronting the tomato value chain were found to be poor quality of tomatoes, inadequate storage and warehousing facilities and most especially inadequate transportation facilities.
The production, distribution and marketing has remained a topical issue in agricultural sectors across africa space. This is as a result of the high demand of tomatoes to produce African delicacies”.
However, Just like every other vegetable and perishable produce, smallholder farmers in Nigeria are faced with large storage and transportation problems during delivery or portation of produce to their end users. This situation leads to post-harvest loss, reducing the nutrient value and reducing farmers income.
“Industry Tomato farmers in Nigeria lose a significant portion of their income as a result of increasing tomato wastage. A study conducted in 2014, assessing the impact of tomato loss on the income and welfare of farmers in the South-western region of the country indicated that the farmers’ gross margin reduced from ~80% to ~17% as a result of post-harvest losses . This negatively impacts the welfare of the farmers and their families”.
The high demand for sustainable transportation cooling solutions is to guarantee the delivery of fresh and healthy food as harvested from the farm to consumers to meet their health and nutritional needs.
The Project with the Theme “Rebuilding Rural Livelihoods and Food Security in Conflict Cum Food Crisis Affected Northeast Nigeria through Cool Transportation”.
Speaking at the event Launch, the Project Leader, Dr. Futoshi Yamauchi represented by Prof. Dauda Bawa of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Jos, disclosed that the project is aimed at contributing social instability and economic welfare among rural agri-business supply chain and smallholder farmers Northeast Nigeria through efficient cooling transportation intervention.
“It will also boost the income, reduce food losses and improve health and maintain the nutritional value of the produce through enhanced allocative efficiency” he added.
The Secretary of Kwadon Market, Gombe State, Mr Abba Suleiman expressed gratitude to International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and ColdHubs Limited for their initiative towards agri-development.
He stressed that the challenges incurred while using traditional method storage and transportation to distribute their produce can not be over-emphasis.
“Aside from this project I used ColdHubs Logistics and their storage facility during my stay in Port-Harcourt, River State Nigeria. The cooling truck is reliable and tested to be more effective for transportation of perishable produce especially tomatoes and I wish that suppliers can adopt this system for proper customer satisfaction”.