Heiner Lehr, an international expert on value chain with the United Nations Development Organisation (UNIDO), has decried the poor method of grain storage being practiced by Nigeria farmers.
Lehr said this in Abuja on Thursday while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria at the sideline of the ongoing workshop of the ”Standing Inter-Ministerial Technical Committee on Zero Reject of Agricultural Commodities and non-oil Exports.’’
He said the poor practice was a major cause for the ban on Nigeria’s beans exportation by the European Union (EU), and expressed regrets that storage of grains, especially beans in Nigeria lacked adequate coordination by relevant authorities and was being done with excess pesticide.
According to Lehr, too much pesticide on farm produce could cause cancer and it has been claimed to have a link to obesity in children.
”There is lack of coordination in beans storage in Nigeria and this has led to over use of pesticides which becomes micro-toxic in nature. Too much use of pesticides is totally not good for anyone to consume whether for Nigerians or anyone in the world because it can lead to cancer. Beans preservation is very poor in Nigeria because there are no sufficient procedures for the preservation,’’ he said.
Lehr called on stakeholders as well as various government agencies saddled with the responsibility of ensuring safety of the Nigeria’s export produce to live up to expectations.
”Nigeria needs to get it right this time around by ensuring that any export to European countries are well scrutinised to meet international standards,’’ the expert said.
The minister of agriculture, Audu Ogbeh, inaugurated the technical committee on zero reject on agricultural commodities on August 30.
The main aim of the committee is to deliberate and proffer solutions to avoid future rejection of Nigeria’s agricultural produce at the international level.
