Nigeria to cut N14.4trn post-harvest losses as smart storage debuts in Ogun 

Ogun-Osun River Basin orders installation of HarvestHarbor in 325 green houses 

Driven by the mission to help Nigeria fight increasing post-harvest losses, running into N14.4 trillion, Olubunmi Akinola, Professor of Electronics and Control Systems at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) has invented a smart storage that will preserve fruits and vegetables for about one year.

The smart storage, tagged, “HarvestHarbor”, was invented by an Ekiti-born Akinola, who lectures in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), with the use of 100% locally sourced materials, which he said, was meant to reduce foreign inputs in a such a project, thereby, reducing capital flight and cutting the exchange rate disparity in favour of Nigerian currency.

Speaking at a recent launch in Abeokuta, Olubunmi Akinola, Professor and Inventor of HarvestHarbor, said, “Smart Storage for Fresh Fruit Crops is a cutting-edge solution set to revolutionise the storage and preservation of fresh fruit crops, ensuring longer shelf and superior quality with a view to extending the shelf-life and eliminates post-harvest losses in the production value chains of vegetables and fruit crops production.

“The system is designed for perishable fruits such as tomatoes, mango, watermelon, orange, carrot, pineapple, bell pepper/peppers, cucumber, pawpaw, banana, plantain and vegetables, and maintain critical atmospheric parameters extended shelf-life while simultaneously maintaining the special features of the stored fruits such as firmness, ripening, colour index and actual weight as close as possible to the fresh fruits.

“Fresh matured harvested fruits have a short shelf life of 7 to 10 days at room temperature leading to high rate of loss after harvest. This problem causes unavailability of the fruits a short while after postharvest period.

“HarvestHarbor which is a microcontroller- based system eliminates this problem by keeping the fruits in its fresh state where all the conditions necessary to guarantee long-term availability are precisely provided, thereby increases their shelf life without any detrimental effect on the quality as it ensures all-around year availability.

“The merits of storing fruit crops in this controlled chamber include slowing down the metabolic activities and respiration processes during storage which consequently prevents spoilage, minimise waste, and increase the fruits availability. In addition, it prevents post-harvesting pest attacks, diseases, and physical loss, hence, improving the quality of fruit items available to the populace during their off-season period.

“This storage chamber employed the method of vapour compression cooling and controlled atmosphere process for its operation. The system demonstrates a successful implementation of a solar-powered control atmospheric system for storage of perishable fruit crops.”

Expressing satisfaction with the invention of smart storage that saves Nigeria several billions of dollars annually, Nnanyelugo Ike-Muonso, Professor and Director-General, Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), said that Nigeria would  be able to break the jinx of increasing post-harvest losses with the HarvestHarbor.

“The biggest problem we have in the supply chain of agricultural produce in Nigeria, and in fact, at the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), to be very specific, is post-harvest loss.

“And what has happened here today is the launch of the most efficient technology in Nigeria, I stand to be challenged, that can preserve fruits and vegetables for a fairly long period of time without them getting damaged.

“Like in the case of onion value chain where we have more than 50% post-harvest loss. We can cut that down to about 20%, if we have this technology installed in some clusters, say in Sokoto, Kebbi axis, and ditto for peppers, oranges, mango. So, instead of going outside to import concentrates of say, orange, to make fruit juices, you can easily secure the harvest of oranges here and develop those concentrates here.

“This will cut down our imports, save our currency and create employment for us. So, the technology is at the very heart of economic prosperity for us. As simple as the technology looks, it’s very powerful in creating or laying the foundation for the Nigerian economic prosperity”, he noted.

Adopting the technology as a solution to the Country’s post-harvest losses, Deji Ashiru, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority (O-ORBDA), disclosed that the Federal Government’s Agency had ordered the installation of the HarvestHarbor in all its green houses located acros Southwest.

He said, “The FG, under the jurisdiction and coverage of Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority in 2025, built 325 green houses across Southwest. In the past, we had those green houses without storage facilities.

“But, now if you are doing that big number, that means we need to think outside the box. Therefore, in all those locations, we are putting these storage facilities there. So, when the demand is low for fruits and vegetables, then we can keep the produce.”