By Faridat Salifu
Experts have called for the adoption of climate-smart agriculture and improved post-harvest management to safeguard Nigeria’s tomato value chain from the growing impacts of climate change and reduce losses that continue to affect farmers’ incomes and food supply.
The call was made on Wednesday, during a capacity-building workshop held in Zaria for tomato farmers, processors, marketers and other value chain actors from North-West Nigeria.
The workshop was organised by the Future Africa Research and Leadership Fellowship (FAR-LeaF II) Programme in collaboration with the Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute, the National Institute for Freshwater Fisheries and Aquaculture Studies, and other partners.
Convener of the programme, Dr. Ololade-Latifat Abdulrahman, said climate change is increasingly threatening tomato production through erratic rainfall, rising temperatures, pest infestations, disease outbreaks and high post-harvest losses.
She explained that the workshop forms part of a research project examining the climate vulnerability and adaptive capacity of actors along the tomato value chain, with the goal of identifying practical adaptation measures and generating evidence to inform agricultural policies and extension services.
According to her, participants were trained on climate-smart production techniques, improved post-harvest handling and value addition to enhance resilience and minimise losses.
She added that the beneficiaries would receive improved tomato seeds and plastic crates to encourage the adoption of better farming and storage practices.
Agricultural Extension Officer with the Kaduna State Agricultural Development Agency, Malam Aliyu Umar, said the training equipped farmers and extension workers with practical knowledge that would improve productivity and help farmers adapt to changing climatic conditions.
Tomato farmer and processor, Malama Asibi Hassan, described the initiative as timely, noting that improved skills in packaging, preservation and processing would help reduce the significant losses experienced after harvest.
She called on governments and development partners to complement capacity-building efforts with investments in processing equipment, solar dryers, greenhouses and other technologies to enable year-round tomato production, reduce waste and improve food security.
