The Sahel Consulting Agriculture and Nutrition Ltd, an NGO, has raised concern that Nigeria faces 40 per cent wastage of its annual agricultural produce.

Mr Temitope Adegoroye, Managing Partner of the organisation, spoke at the 2024 Sahel Food Systems Changemakers Conference in Abuja.

The theme of the conference is “Innovative Governance Models: A Pathway for Food and Nutrition Security in Nigeria.’’

Citing the recent statistics from the World Food Programme, Adegoroye said a huge number of the Nigeria’s population was facing acute hunger while 43.7million were adopting crisis-level or worst coping strategies.

He said that the nation’s food inflation, which stood at 40.87 per cent in June, further eroded the purchasing powers and limiting access to affordable and nutrition food.

Adegoroye, who identified Nigeria as the largest population in Africa with over 200 million people, said that 70 per cent of its households were actively involved in agricultural activities.

“In spite the large percentage of the populace involvement in agriculture, the country faces 40 per cent wastage of its annual agricultural produce.’’

He said that the post-harvest wastage highlighted a significant opportunity for value addition and improved processing within the sector.

“Nigeria’s food security crisis is a key aspect of the nation’s broader social and economic instability, presenting a trilemma of food affordability, accessibility and availability,” he said.

On his part, Mezuo Nwuneli, Board Chairman, Sahel Consulting, said the programme was a landmark event focusing on addressing Africa’s food system and fostering innovative solutions to drive sustainable agriculture.

According to him, food security and nutrition security is paramount and cannot be achieved in isolation but by the concerned efforts of all and sundry.  (NAN)