Reducing post-harvest losses take centre stage at OTACCWA cold chain summit
The Organization for Technology Advancement of Cold Chain in West Africa (OTACCWA) will be hosting the 3rd West African Cold Chain Summit and Exhibition (WACCSE 2021) from 26th to 28th October 2021 at Landmark Centre, Victoria Island Annex, Lagos.
OTACCWA, an Affiliate Partner of the Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA) is a multi-disciplinary and multisectoral group of professionals, companies and organizations in Nigeria and other ECOWAS countries established to promote and facilitate the development of the cold chain industry and infrastructure in Nigeria and West Africa in general.
This is a nascent industry in Nigeria with tremendous growth potential that would have a transforming impact on the economy of the country.
OTACCWA organizes the different industry sectors participating in cold chain supply of perishable agricultural produce and other perishable commodities for storage, transportation, or distribution which represents their individual and collective interests in policy making, standards-setting and industry development.
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Cold chain is an integral part of agriculture having been identified as a means to significantly reduce the postharvest loss of perishable fresh fruits and vegetables. It is crucial for the preservation of perishable foods, fulfilling the gap needed to certify Nigerian-produced perishable farm produce for export to foreign markets and is also a vital part of delivering medicine for adequate health care coverage in Nigeria.
The high prevalence of post-harvest losses and waste exacerbates global development issues of food security, economic development and environmental conservation.
In Nigeria, over 5percent of fruits and vegetables are lost or wasted, with half of these losses occurring after production, but before reaching the consumer.
The fact that a significant share of food produced today spoils before it can be consumed, or even before it reaches consumers, is a great concern for food producers and consumers alike.
It is estimated that post-harvest losses currently account for 30percent of global food production, while less than 10percent of the world’s perishable foodstuffs are currently being refrigerated (Coulomb, 2008).
Postharvest Loss (PHL) of perishable produce such as horticultural food crops, dairy, fish, meat and poultry is a major problem in Nigeria caused by a wide variety of factors, ranging from poor production planning, inadequate processing facilities and transport, lack of proper crating, lack of cool/cold storage and logistics technologies and lack of proper handling education at the retail level.
Perishable commodities need to be pre-cooled, chilled, and/or frozen as close to the point of harvest as possible, to retain nutrients and add shelf life.
Cold storage and refrigerated transport then need to be available throughout each step of the value chain, until the food is consumed, or the product is utilized. The cold chain is also required for storage and distribution of critical healthcare and pharmaceutical products such as vaccines.
Though sophisticated cold chain, packaging/crating, and processing solutions exist and have been widely applied in developed regions, several challenges prevent implementation in developing regions, including Nigeria.
A lack of expertise, unavailability of technology, lack of access to financial services and poor coordination are the key contributors to postharvest loss in developing countries, particularly along highly susceptible perishable value chains. President of OTACCWA, Alexander Isong, stated that the pharmaceutical industry is key in the organization’s plan as it would leave no stone unturned to ensure Nigerians enjoy quality and safe vaccines.
He said, “Twenty percent of medicine has to go through the cold chain, but unfortunately a lot of medicine in Nigeria that needs to go through the cold chain process cannot do so because of lack of adequate facilities.
As an organization that knows what is supposed to be done, we are affiliated with foreign bodies that are in the cold chain. “We support the government in writing adequate policies and regulations, for example, a company that imports vaccines into Nigeria and wants to move it from one point or another would have to take it through an unbroken cold chain”.
Nigeria, a 200 million-strong market, was in 2014 estimated by the Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA) to have only 10,000 cubic metres capacity compared to Namibia with 130,000 cubic metres for 4.5 million markets or India with over 140,000,000 cubic metres for a population of 1.2 billion.
Nigeria’s cold chain infrastructure, where it is available, is concentrated mostly in or around urban areas. In rural areas, where the ‘first mile’ of most food value chains is located and up to two-thirds of overall post-harvest losses occur, functional cold chains are frequently absent.
Improving the cold chain coverage for food and allied value chains in Nigeria has the potential to provide significant development benefits. By expanding the access to suitable infrastructure and strengthening local management capacities, environmental, economic and social gains can be achieved.
Thus, there is a need for an alliance of experts and actors across and around nutritious food value chains to come together to address these challenges and to enable businesses to move progress forward on postharvest loss reduction.
Improving the cold chain coverage for food value chains has the potential to provide significant development benefits.
At the WACCSE 2021 summit, OTACCWA shall engage with primary producers, private sector/industry players, market, financial institutions, financial experts, agribusiness experts, healthcare, pharmaceutical companies, government, commodity and trade associations, research and academia, professional associations, development partners and agencies, regulatory bodies and other stakeholders to develop and formulate ways to deploy practical cold chain solutions to address these identified challenges.
Secretary of OTACCWA, Chinedu Allinson encouraged members of the organization stating “the key point of affiliation is to grow your business and increase your visibility in the cold chain ecosystem.
Businesses in this ecosystem can operate as a unified national, regional and global identity with working partnerships and the ability to develop new businesses. As a cohesive group, OTACCWA and its members can promote a brand that the members are a part of and better compete against the multinationals locally and globally”.
WACCSE 2021 will be held in collaboration with Fairtrade Messe, German trade show specialist organizer of agrofood & plastprintpack trade fairs for Africa & the Middle East. The hosting of these three events simultaneously with less than one roof guarantees a more robust international pull and synergy of purpose, solution and business development for attendees.