Food Safety for Africa (FS4Africa) project partnered with the Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute (NSPRI) and others to co-host the 1st Postharvest Connect Conference in Abuja, Nigeria. From the 18th to the 19th of April 2024, approximately 150 physical participants and over 30 virtual attendees participated in the conference held at the NAF Conference Centre, Abuja, Nigeria. The Chief Convener, NSPRI’s Executive Director, Prof. Lateef Sanni, gave the welcome remarks ahead of goodwill messages by several eminent personalities from the public, private, and development sectors. The Food Safety for Africa (FS4Africa) project co-hosted the conference with NSPRI, along with other partners such as the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS), the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), HarvestPlus, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), SAHEL Consulting, The World Bank, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN), Empa Materials Science and Technology, and Base.

The purpose of the conference was to facilitate the convergence and alliance of key organisations on the sustainable management of postharvest losses towards promoting food and nutrition security in Nigeria. Mitigating food quantity and quality losses were discussed at the conference, with speakers and participants from multiple institutions including the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), HarvestPlus, Afex, Harvestfield Industries Limited (HIL), Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA), Natural Research Institute/Greenwich University, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS), the National Root Crop Research Institute (NRCRI), and the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), as well as the Poultry Association of Nigeria.

The Guest of Honour, Senator Aliyu Abdullahi, Honourable Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, lauded the organisers of the conference and emphasized the importance of addressing postharvest losses as part of the mandate of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. He indicated that the Ministry (FMAFS) approved the 1st Postharvest Connect Conference. During his remarks, he also mentioned that “reducing postharvest losses is a critical strategy for ensuring food security for our [Nigerian] citizens…we, therefore, need to examine and adapt suitable success stories to convince the financial sectors and investors on the transfer and adoption of best practices, postharvest interventions…”

At this conference, the joint Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of the Food Convergence Innovation – Nigeria platform was unveiled by IITA’s Deputy Director-General, Partnerships for Delivery, Dr. Kenton Dashiell, and the Honourable Minister of State for Agriculture & Food Security, Senator Aliyu Abdullahi. The FCI-Nigeria platform is a multistakeholder platform and one of the tools for addressing food safety in Nigeria. It is one of the tools towards the implementation of Use Cases 1 and 2 in the FS4Africa project. Representing the FS4Africa project, the IITA team included Project Coordinator Titilayo Falade (virtual attendee), Project Manager Olumodupe Banwo, and IITA Senior Scientist Alejandro Ortega-Beltran. They actively participated in panel discussions and muiltiple sessions at the conference. Iremide Olasope and Abiodun Opaleye from IITA and Ezekiel Udoko from HIL provided support and were designates at the FS4Africa exhibition booth. Additionally, members of the FCI-Nigeria platform were present at the conference and contributed to discussions.

The FS4Africa exhibition booth attracted several guests, including the Guest of Honour, Senator Aliyu Abdullahi, Honourable Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security. At the booth, guests were informed about the FS4Africa project and were updated on the management of postharvest losses, such as via aflatoxin management and promoting the reduced use of pesticide residue from misuse, including the use of Aflasafe™ for biocontrol of aflatoxins, rapid testing using Neogen Raptor™ for the detection of aflatoxins, DryCard™ for the rapid assessment of humidity, and the use of PICS™ bags for hermetic storage to manage insect pests and aflatoxins. Knowledge materials including flyers and QR-coded cards were distributed to guests who visited the exhibition booth.

 

 

 

 

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Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or Research Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.