Netherlands, Sahel Consulting to develop horticulture sector in southwest
To help develop the horticulture sector across the six southwest states and tackle the country’s huge post-harvest losses, the Netherland government in partnership with Sahel Consulting Agriculture conducted a study on market-led solutions to addressing issues limiting horticulture production in the region.
The study, funded by the consulate general of the Kingdom of Netherlands was also conducted to develop a roadmap for the horticulture sector (2025-2030) in the southwest region.
Speaking at a stakeholder workshop themed ‘Horticulture Sector Roadmap for Southwest Nigeria,’ held recently in Lagos, Michel Deelen, consul-general of the kingdom of the Netherlands, stressed the need for diversification of the production of horticulture produce to create investment opportunities and meet the growing demand.
Deelen noted that the workshop was organised to get feedback from stakeholders across the value chain on priority action points that should be taken to improve the horticulture sector in the region.
He recognised the need for partnerships and alliances across the value chains in the sector as formidable solutions to issues limiting productivity in the region.
The consul-general listed some of the support the Netherlands government has provided in developing Nigeria’s agricultural sector such as the development of the seed road maps.
He added that Dutch businesses are interested in tapping the opportunities in the sector across the region, however, he noted that insecurity and market volatility are hindrances to their entry.
Mayowa Ekundayo, co-founder Postagvest Solutions Limited, in his presentation on the state of the horticulture in the region, said the industry is largely underdeveloped with low access to finance for players.
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He noted that the sector just recently gained recognition despite its importance in boosting nutrition intake for the populace, saying it was largely seen as a non-viable business before now.
“The operation in the sector is largely informal and the government’s focus in the region has always been on cash crops,” he said.
He explained that the high cost of inputs, worsening insecurity, climate changes and decline of aid in the sector are factors hindering the development of the sector in the southwest region.
He added that the sector suffers from internal and external factors such as policy inconsistency and ineffectiveness, inadequate finance, not being a priority sector for political class and lack of collaboration among players and diversity of the crops in the value chain.
James Amailo, analyst at Sahel Consulting in his presentation on Horticulture in Nigeria and the Southwest said the region still relies heavily on the northern states for crops like tomatoes, onions and peppers.
“Northern states have better irrigation schemes enabling dry season production,” Amailo said.
He put the country’s current vegetable consumption at 98g/day, which according to him is far below the recommended intake of 240g/day.
Thomas Tichar, youth and gender advisor in Food Systems at Wageningen University and Research, listed seven suggested recommended actions and key areas from the findings – establish a multistakeholder platform that should be led by the private sector and improve policy and regulatory support along the supply chain.
Others are to develop tailored financial products for smallholders, businesses and midstream actors, develop production and supply chain infrastructure, build farmer capacity to shift to a commercial scale, develop training schemes and consumer awareness of healthy diets.
