…..@WufasAgronet, we are Food Security ( processing ) Advocates.

✅Earned FAO , WFP(WA), Top Fan barges.
✅Member NAAJ, PAAJ, IFAJ & AFAN.
✅Consultancy Services in Human Capital and Value Chain Development.

CAN AFRICA (indeed) THE WORLD AFFORD TO FEED HER CITIZENRY BY 2030 IN THE OPTICS OF THE “TRIPPLE A” OF SUSTAINABLE FOOD SECURITY AND VALUE CHAIN DEVELOPMENT ?

It’s on record that WUFAS AGR0NET Coined the phrase “TRIPPLE A” of Sustainable Food Security and Value Chain Development to describe the need to make available good quality food for all.
The followings are the various classes of Foods :
– • Beverages, • Dairy products, •Baking and pastries, • Fruits and vegetables, • Legumes , • Cereals Technology, •Tuber roots Milling, • Oil extraction, • Beef management , • Poultry, •Fisheries, • Distillate etc .
Actualisation of the Triple A is pivotal to achieving the Sustainable Food Security and Value Chain development in the ongoing agricultural reorientation in Nigeria which is one of the goals from the optics of the 17 goals of 2030 UN agenda. The Tripple A are of enormous importance that each must be accomplished on own merits. They are

— AVAILABILITY — MASSIVE / Aggressive commercial Organic Agricultural production ( Mechanisation )

— ACCEPTABILITY — Processing with adequate Food Processing Technology knowledge to meet – International Best Practices and global Competitiveness.

— AFFORDABILITY — Relatively cheap for all to buy.
Sustainable food for the citizenry.

■ AVAILABILITY OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE :
The entire population of West Africa is about 350million while Nigeria is over 211 million with growth rate of 3.2% (about 6million annually ) . Producing enough Food for Nigeria is a mirage while the entire populace of W/ Africa subregion are import dependent on most of the daily needed food items such as Rice, Maize, Sugar, Milk etc. Nigeria is blessed with abundant landmass of about 98.3million hectares of fertile arable land that yields about 8 – 11 tons per hectare. 71% of the landmass are cultivatable while about 38% are cultivated.
In Asia, the Yeild per hectare is about 21MT per hectare this may not be unconnected with their agronomy techniques and practices.

POSTHARVEST LOSSES
In Africa , about 40% of the agricultural produce is lost annually due to • Lack of On-the farm Processing, • Inadequate storage facilities, • Infrastructural deficit in rural areas eg good feeder roads network, Electricity and • lack of adequate knowledge in Food Processing Technology.
A recent report from the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme CAADP -Coordinator at Africa Union (AU ) commission stated that about 1.3bn MT ie 30% of global Food produce is lost annually due to Post HARVEST relate issues.

SOLUTIONS
In Africa especially Nigeria , adequate knowledge in fundermentals of Food Processing Technology must be embraced Starting from basics of water treatment, packaging, preservation, Quality control concept, Food mgt System , Storage systems etc. Followed by Unit Operational appliances such as Mixing, Pasteurization, Filtration, Centrifugation etc and then followed by simple practical demonstrations in various classes of Foods eg Beverages, Dairy products, Cereals Technology , enhancing Global Competitiveness and International Best Practices .
All these are what we stand for @ WUFAS AGR0NET.

SOME FOOD CROPS .

●RICE — An unprecedented leap was effected and achieved by the current administration of President Buhari in Rice production through the anchor borrowers schemes of the Central Bank of Nigeria .Nigeria now produce about 57% of the required 6.7mmt making Nigeria the highest producer of the Asian’s Food crop in Africa thereby stemming Rice smuggling.
● CASSAVA- Over 90% of various Industrial VALUE CHAINS of cassava are imported . ( such as ):
•Ethanol, • High quality cassava flour HQCF , • Cassava flour an adjunct in wheat flour Milling , •Sweetener enzymatic Hydrolysis of Cassava etc. While for domestic consumption we have ●Garri , ● Starch, ● Tapioca, ● Cassava flour, ● Animal feeds etc. — Vitamin A Cassava (yellow cassava, code 07/0593,TME 419. Vit A enriched cassava contains high level of beta -carotene a precursor of Vitamins A ) in consumption, it produces over 500 calories of energy daily. Making it important Food Security crop.
Cassava contains about 80% carbohydrate if not properly complemented with other nutrients, it’s excessive consumption may result in impaired vision or blindness and other terminal sicknesses. is a perishable Food crops if not Processed early enough.
Taking a case study of Cassava high net worth value chains, 96%of 600,000mt of Cassava flour , 100% of 200,000 Mt of Sweetner, 98% of 50,400Mt of High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF),98% of Ethanol are imported annually.
● Sorghum – (Guinea Corn ) is a valuable source of Carbohydrate for man, livestock and lndustries it’s protein content is richer than that found in Maize but lower in soluble carbohydrate, oils and mineral matters.
Protein — 14.28%, Carbohydrate 76% and Oil 32%.
The Protein is lower in Biological value it’s deficient in tryptophan and Lysine but richer in Iron, the bran is rich in Vit B.
Nutritional and Industrial benefits : – It’s a staple Food in the Northern part of Nigeria a major contributor of energy in diets. Industrially it is of a high net worth value exploiting the abundance carbohydrate for Hydrolysis into simpler sugars.
In Cadbury Nigeria Plc , the polysaccharide in Sorghum is converted into Glucose syrup while the Breweries use it as an adjunct to malted barley for beer Brewing . The local Brewers use Sorghum as main source of raw materials.
NIGERIA import about 80% of Glucose annually.
● Maize – has multiple usages eg as main ingredient about 60% for Poultry feeds, 26% for Food (flour millers ) and Beverages manufacturing, Modified Corn starch /flour used for Custard production and extensively as filler or stabilizer in food Industries is 100% imported .
Nigeria produces about 10.5 MMT annually while demand is about 15MMT.
●– Legumes — PULSES are important in the diet of developing countries. They share similar characteristics eg
— Relatively high protein content generally between 18 -27% but Soybeans has exceptionally high biologically aproved protein content of 40%. Making Legumes important in human nutrition .
— High fat content useful source of Vegetable oil eg Groundnut Oil, Melon oil etc.
— High Carbohydrate content ie high calorific effect.
— Valuable source of minerals eg Calcium and Iron.
— Can contribute useful amount of Vitamins A, B and B2 and nicotine to diet.
— However, some toxic substances such as glucosides, purine and haemoglutinines all these are removed by soaking and cooking so may not occur in prepared dishes.
Other Legumes are Locust beans, Soya beans, Groundnut, Pigeon beans etc.
● SOYBEANS -Harnessing the nutritional and Industrial benefits of Soybeans as Food, Edible oil, Fibre and Fuel for National development cannot be over emphasised. Lack of massive and commercial agricultural production and Processing of Soybeans is a critical agro infrastructural deficit considering the humongous economic advantages of the various value chain developments. In ’19/’20 marketing year USA exported about 45MMT (USSOY) while in 2019 Brazil exported about $32bn of Soybeans ( about the same time Nigeria annual budget was $35bn) although Brazil is economically stronger in Sugar and automobile production. In Nigeria, incidentally Soybeans agriculture thrives best in the Geninea Savanna ( Benue throve ) / The Rain forest ecological zones of Nigeria. Nutritionally, a large percentage of the world’s population today is undernourished due to Inadequate diet Principal of which are protein, vitamins and minerals which are abundant in Soybeans.
Edible oil can be sourced from Soybeans that meets the regulated amount of Oleic content ( C17H33CooH, 9- Octadecanoic )which is trans fats free.
Fibre – are essentially the powder used mainly in Food Processing industries as thickener etc.
Fuel – Soybeans Bio Diesel for auto mobiles as renewable clean burning disel.
● SESAME SEEDS (BENNE )
For edible oil extraction. The value chain attracts enormous economic and commercial importance containing about 55% oils, 35%protein with substantial amount of carbohydrates and others. Of particular interest is the high quality oil obtain from Sesame which contains about 47% Oleic and 39% linoleic acid which exclude trans fats. Best in the production of margarine in many parts of the world with Inadequate refrigeration. Other uses are for Paints, Soap, Cosmetics, Perfumes, Bath oil,Pharmaceutical etc.
● ANIMAL HUSBANDRY in the West Africa’s climes. Animals are reared for beef purposes with no export value – (The average weight of cow here is about 250kg compared to 900kg obtained in Netherlands and other Beef exporting countries . ) while the dairy industry is still at infancy with no export value neither. Animal husbandry in West Africa is still as it was in the 18th century medeaver era trekking thousands of miles with no nourishing Food. Ranching is the modern practice worldover.
● FISHERIES —
There are about 264 dams some for multipurpose usage, Nigeria is blessed with extensive costal and brackish waters while Inland rivers and lakes are enormous also in place are 11 River Basin Development Authorities for irrigation purposes, Construction of dams amongst others but all are poorly funded and managed , all these are grossly under utilised for fishing activities.
However, private enterprise in Fish farming using garden “GALVANISED Mobile TARPAULINPONDS ” , Earth ponds etc are springing up.
Nigeria import about 900,000mt of Fish annually while the required is 1.5MMT . If GLOBAL production of marine and fresh water Food is increased by 15.5mt annually, some micronutrients deficiencies could be averted.
● FRUITS and VEGETABLES — ( HORTICULTURAL CROPS ) Nigeria is endowed with abundant landmass of about 98.3m hectare with about 71.2m hectare cultivatable while only 38% cultivated. The landmass are arable fertile land that supports various types of fruits and vegetables in the ecological zones from the Sahel Savanna through Sudan Savanna, Guinea Savanna, Mountain Grassland Rainforest , Freshwater Swamp Forest to Mangrove Swamp Forest ecological zones of Nigeria but about 40%are wasted annually due to Lack of rural access feeder roads network. to urban metropolis where the market exist.
● POULTRY INDUSTRIES are very adaptable to our climate in Nigeria the albatross is the Inadequate supply of Feeds of which about 60% is of Maize formulation. Maize importation is crucial for sustainace of the industry.
● WHEAT — From available statistics, about 4.5 million metric tons – 70% of wheat is imported annually while 30% is locally sourced from 8 States of: Kano, Jigawa, kebbi,katsina, Sokoto, Bauchi, Kaduna and Zamfara which are hotbed of Banditry and Insecurity.
Currently, Urban metropolis in Nigeria depend on wheat importation given various value chains such as wheat flour for Baking and pastries, Noodles, Semolina, Pasta etc school children are obsessed with noodles for Food packs . While Rice, Maize, Cassava Legumes etc are out of reach of many families.
— The exchange rate of Dollar to Ñairais $1 – 525 Naira respectively a bag of flour that used to cost less than 10, 000 Naira currently sold at 21,500 Naira , Wheat imported are mostly inferior and poor quality some are expired due to lower cost prices.
• The Central Bank of Nigeria in August 2021 claimed that Food import gulped about $1.04billion in six months.
From the above analysis the major alibi for insufficiency are insecurity, inadequate massive commercial agricultural productivity if this is stepped up the present more than 88 million people leaving in extreme poverty will be gainfully employed. China redeemed 725 million of her citizen from extreme poverty through massive construction , between 1990 – 2013. Indian was delisted from being the poorest nation in the world through the development of technologies in ICT, Nuclear, Agriculture etc. The time for Nigeria to strategize on definite policy objective to take advantage of efficient trade policy that will open up the vistas and vaccum in our balance of trade through our various untapped potentials such as massive commercial organic agricultural farming, various dairy value chain , fruit concentrates, local staple food stuff .productivities is now.
Important remedies to the above are addressing the insecurity which will allow the farmers go back to farms.
—– AGGRESSIVE/COMMERCIAL- ORGANIC MECHANISATION,
THE standard for agricultural mechanisation world over is 300 tractors to 1000 km of farmland , in Nigeria less than 50 tractors is deployed to 1000 kms, Nigeria presently need about 750,000 tractors to be deployed. Other areas such as scientific research and innovation on high yield crops varieties, Africa is the highest producer of cassava 55% but the yield per hectare is very low 8 – 11MT compared to the yield in Asia 21 MT/ hectares. appropriate fertilizer application, provision of government infrastructures such as roads in the rural areas and others such as weed management control, accessibility of loans to farmers at single digit rates, synergy between policy makers and scientist, industrialists and other stake holders like processors, famers,end users and donor agencies.
Presently, Nigeria is the highest producer of Yam 62% but to date the cultivation of the food tuber is manual if mechanised the foreign exchange It will attract Will be enormous.
The Federal authorities should synergize with large famers to provide needed support in areas such as mechanisation, massive commercial production in all areas as fruits, cereals, diaries, as these will influence large production of concentrate, Diaries and lot more. The irony of massive productivity is such that it doesn’t take any more energy to create big dream than it does to create little ones.there must be Swift departure from our native syndrome ( as our fathers did it) to advance thinking and operations. Investment in vital areas is key and should be embraced .The difference between the advance climes and the rest of the world is the bigger dream they have.

■ ACCEPTABILITY — PROCESSED FOODS :
Post harvest handling is the bane of Agricultural produce in Nigeria, about 40% is wasted due to lack of adequate knowledge in Food Processing Technology amongst others.
WUFAS AGR0Net Ethics of Food processing Technology which entails : Water treatment, Quality control concept, Preservation, Packaging,, Product Quality Assurance etc.these model would ensure acceptable food for all and support quality population.
At WUFAS AGRONET we are into establishment, Construction and installation of Micro, Small and Medium scale Food Processing Industries & Plants for Startups , Propreneurs, Enterpreneurs using about 80% local content ie( fabrication using stainless steel and other food grade appliances that are not toxic to food ) eg: Citrus fruits juices, Tomatoes (juice, paste) , pineapple line, Dairy ( different types- Greek, drinking, fruit, cottage cheese, sour cream, etc) Water Treatment and production, Flavor drinks ( still & carbonated) Alcoholic & nonalcoholic drinks, Herbal extracts , Bitters drinks, Wine drinks – Tonic wine, Bread baking/pastries, Chips Frying Milling -cassava, rice etc, Drying – fish etc, Compounding of Feed Mills. and many more plants.
● BANED FOOD ITEMS – Attention of the appropriate department of Agriculture (MYCOTOXICOLOGY) Is required on this development.
The European Union( EU) had in June 2015 suspended Nigerian Food items such as: Dryfish, Meat, Melon seed,Beans, Sesame seeds and Peanuts from entering Europe till June 2016, However the ban has been extended back – back to June 2019 following the inability to meet the prescribed food safety standards by the EU..The rejected Food items were found to contain between 0.03 — 4.6 mg/kg .of DICHLORVOS Pesticide. The permissible global limit is 0.01 mg/ kg. The excess chemical in the food items are said to be harmful to consumer’ s health.
Unfortunately, the high dosage of toxin is what Nigerians and indeed the W/Africa and beyond are been fed with. The appopriate authority should expedite necessary action on this.
● AT WUFAS AGRONET, The use of “OZONE ” (O3) is recommended in the grains Bin or Silos, the Ozone gas is driven by current of air through the base of the Silo upwards inhibiting all forms life eg Fungal, mould, insects etc USA Grains Checking Services Federal Administration approved Ozone gas safe as Antibacterial gas in cereals and Food products. Ozone react and breakdown the outer wax layers on bug’s bodies leading to dryness and death.

■ AFFORDABLITY:
The Principles of Supply and demand comes in. Cost of product is determine by the availability of same,When the supply is in excess of demand the cost drops, this trend followed by protective Government policies wil ensure affordability.Local producers will be encouraged to increase production .
As the processors operate at optimum capacity (full blast) break even point is achieved this will guarantee excess products and crash the selling price.

RECOMMENDATIONS.
TO FORESTALL THE INCESSANT BANNING OF NIGERIA’S FOOD ITEMS IN EUROPE AND ELSEWHERE THE USE OF “OZONE GAS” IS RECOMMENDED INSTEAD OF DICHLORVOS Pesticide.

At WUFAS AGR0Net, We are Competent and Reliable Food Processing Technologists into Human Capital Development Consultancy in Food Processing Technology enhancing Global Competitiveness and International Best Practices for the teeming youthful population and the unemployed graduates and other Food handlers through our AGROPRENUERIAL EMPOWERMENT DEMONSTRATIVE SEMINARS IN FOOD PROCESSING (Post harvest ). In line with UN SUSTAINABLE FOOD SECURITY AND VALUE CHAIN DEVELOPMENT .
Our Contact details :08157784430. Email wufasagronet@gmail.com, Fb pages WUFAS AGR0Net.