Nigeria is one of the biggest producers of mangoes in the ECOWAS sub-region, but for lack of investment, records huge post harvest losses of over 40%. However, the recent intervention of the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP), efforts at reducing those losses have been set in motion amidst collaboration with companies like Longa-Ewa Lakes Farms, John Oba, writes.
For years now across Nigeria, the sight of wastages that accompanied every fruit season because of lack of industries to process them is a common phenomenon that calls for concern. Hence, the timely intervention of the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP), that has as part of its mandate to reduce wastages and increase productivity across the agricultural value chains.
Inaugurating the Mango innovation platform and supporting the platform with improved technologies which include several drying equipment to enable individuals and corporate organisations venture into mango chips production, as part of its contribution is already yielding results.
Visiting one of the beneficiaries of such technologies and equipment, Longa-Ewa Lakes Farms Limited in Sabon Wuse, Niger state last Thursday, the Acting National Coordinator, WAAPP Nigeria, Dr. James Ocheme Apochi, the project sponsored 19 persons from Mango Innovation Platform, fruit production and processing firms across the country for a study tour to Burkina Faso, to understudy dry mango processing technology with a view to curtailing the huge post-harvest losses of the fruit through drying.
He said this was done in preparation for the promotion of dry mango processing and packaging technology in Nigeria.
According to him: “WAAPP procured four mango drying processing machines from South Africa which were distributed for use in four farms. It may interest you to know that one of the beneficiaries of WAAPP support, Nobex Technology Company Limited in Lagos has successfully come up with improved multi-purpose fruit dryer which is expected to avail farmers across the country and beyond, the opportunity of processing mangoes into chips so as to reduce post-harvest losses as well as create jobs and generate incomes, especially among the teaming youths and women in the rural areas which in turn addresses rural-urban migration.”
The coordinator, who expressed satisfaction on the progress Longa-Ewe farms has made said, the farm is a success story of WAAPP, saying his vision is to ensure that every family in Nigeria has access to the dry mango product. “I am looking forward to when dry mango chips will be used in conferences and at the executive council meeting, because there is no addictive, sugar or preservative to the mango chips, it is fresh from the farm.”
Showing the visiting team led by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Water Resource and a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Senator Muhammad Ubali Shittu, who is representing Jigawa North West Senatorial district, Longa-Ewa Farms’ Executive Chairman, Mr Njidda Ahmed said the factory is established to produce fruit juice, dry mangoes, pineapples among others.
He said the installation of the machines was completed two months ago and would commence full production soon. He said the capacity of the yogurt and juice machines are two thousand litres per hour and that if the machine works for eight hours, it will amount to 16,000 litres. Saying if the market is favourable, the company might go into two shift production period.
“The aim is that as much as possible we produce the fruits here and also buy from other farmers. The advantage is that the farmers have been benefiting from this since they can easy find buyers of their produce here and also instead of importing concentrates, this could be gotten from the mangoes and pineapples.
He however lamented the lack of constant power supply, which he said was the major challenge as running the company with generator for the better part of the day will shot the running cost up.
“The dryers take a lot of energy, as it takes about 14 hours to dry a set of mango chips, so you can imagine if you run your generators for 14 hours, so my advice is that if the government can rectify the challenges of power a lot of entrepreneurs will flourish in this country and the economy will improve,” he said.
He said his vision was to expand the factory in the next five years since the demand is there.
On the role of WAAPP in supporting entrepreneurs, “Honestly, I am so grateful to WAAPP, because I don’t know about the dryer before but I got to know about it through WAAPP and when WAAPP team visited my farm and saw the mangoes they immediately recommended that I got one. It is really encouraging.”
On funding, he said bank lending rate is too high such that entrepreneurs cannot easily access such facilities from banks.
Addressing the media, Senator Shittu, said investment in mango chips production will reduce wastages and add to revenue generation, saying government has approved importations of some farm machineries, assuring that the senate will always support the government in whatever policies to improve the sector.
“We will collaborate with WAAPP to achieve our desired objectives, and WAAPP have to be renewed because it will bring in more value addition to the sector.
