By Agrobroadcast Team
Nigeria needs between 6,000 and 7,000 refrigerated trucks to significantly cut the country’s staggering post-harvest losses estimated at N5 trillion annually, the Organisation for Technology Advancement of Cold Chain in West Africa (OTACCWA) has said.
The President of OTACCWA, Mr. Alexander Isong, made this known in an interview, stressing that the earlier projection of 5,000 trucks was only a baseline figure.
According to him, fresh assessments show that for Nigeria to achieve effective nationwide coverage especially in rural farming communities the country requires a more robust and structured fleet.
“To achieve meaningful national coverage, including rural production zones, we need a structured mix of small last-mile refrigerated trucks, medium distribution trucks and heavy-duty long-haul cold transport vehicles,” Isong explained.
He noted that while investments in cold storage facilities are important, they cannot solve the problem in isolation.
“Without cold mobility, storage facilities alone cannot solve the problem. Transport is the critical missing link,” he said.
Isong emphasised that expanding refrigerated transport must go hand in hand with the establishment of pre-cooling centres located close to farms. Such centres, he explained, help to quickly reduce the temperature of freshly harvested produce, preventing spoilage within hours.
Beyond infrastructure, he called for the adoption of digital traceability systems that monitor temperature compliance across the supply chain, ensuring that perishable goods remain within safe temperature ranges from farm to market.
Isong, who also serves as Nigeria Country Director for the World Agriculture Forum, said scaling up cold chain mobility would help stabilise food prices, boost farmers’ incomes and drastically reduce waste.
He added that strengthening cold transport infrastructure would position Nigeria to compete more effectively in regional markets under the African Continental Free Trade Area.
He explained that a cold chain refers to a temperature-controlled supply system designed to preserve and transport perishable goods including food, pharmaceuticals and chemicals from the point of production to final consumption.
“The goal is to maintain a consistent temperature range throughout the entire process from production and storage to transportation and distribution to safeguard quality, safety and shelf life,” he said.
OTACCWA is a multidisciplinary body comprising professionals, companies and organisations across Nigeria and ECOWAS member states. The association advocates improved standards, policy support, collaboration and innovation within the cold chain industry, particularly in the handling of perishable goods, pharmaceuticals and vaccines.