Cold chain market to hit $340b by 2025- OTACCWA boss

Stanley Ihedigbo

President of Organization for Technology Advancement of Cold Chain in West Africa (OTACCWA), Dr. Alexander Isong, has said that the cold chain market is projected to reach a value of $340.3b by 2025, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 7.8% in terms of value during the forecast period.

Speaking at the 5th West Africa Cold Chain Summit & Exhibition , with theme:” Delivering food & nutrition security through cold chain in Africa”,  organized by OTACCWA, Dr. Isong , noted that the cold chain market was valued at $233.3b in 2020 and the increasing need for temperature control to prevent food losses , growth in international trade owing to trade liberalization , along with the rising demand for perishable goods among consumers across the globe , is driving the growth of the cold chain market.

Isong explained:” Cold chain is an industry that has seen very penetration into the Nigerian economy and thereby it has been unable to enjoy advantages which cold chain brings to it. Cold chain has a multiplier effect on the economy which helps a country in delivering on goods and services that are healthy , certified and helps in the storage and transportation of what a country produce on its products to maintain their efficacy and potency. Nigeria has not been able to achieve this, that is why we have over 50% losses in our food system coming from production to the market. For the country to be able to achieve a self-sustaining standard in food production and be able to guarantee food security now and in years to come, Nigeria has to invest in the cold chain sector to enable us ramp up production by being able to store and transport what we have already produce.

“We have been able to make diligent strides in focusing the government and country in the need to develop the cold chain industry which would have a domino and multiplier effect on the economy. Gold chain has the characteristics to grow any economy and all the developed and thriving economies of the world have gotten cold chain right. As it is Nigeria is able to store and transport what the wastages are on the farm and the food system which is around 50% as we speak. Nigeria would have been able to increase production by at least 45% while cutting down the wastage in the food systems thereby increasing the production of perishable farm produce, these models can now be scaled up as we produce and utilize more acreage . The losses on the farms are not only the food that we produce on the farm but it is also the input that goes into producing those perishable farm produce eg. fertilizer , pesticides, seeds, water and man hours used in farming,” he explained.

OTACCWA boss further said that if Nigeria is able to get storage and transportation right, they would then be able to predict what the yield of the farmers would be which will help investment and planning.

He further added:” Cold chain cuts across a lot of industries from food production , manufacturing , food processing , farming logistics, cosmetics, cigars, breweries etc. It has a lot of cross cutting application in most industries , and we would implore and encourage the Federal Republic of Nigeria and State Government to create an enabling environment for companies that exist or carry out business in the cold chain industry and the ecosystem. It is imperative in agriculture . It is not a fancy system for the rich to be able to preserve food.  It is very important in agriculture for the nation to be able to sustain itself in the long run and achieve food security for its population.

“Nigeria is top heavy with young people and in the next ten years this young demography will have families,  and this invariably means that there is  needs to be more food in the systems to be able to take care of this teeming population.  In order to stabilize prices and cost,  also have a enough food produced in Nigeria to feed and satisfy the needs of the people.  Nigeria has to invest heavily in cold chain so that we can store what we produce and cut down waste as is obtainable now drastically,” he advised .

Isong further explained that cold chain would bring a lot of economic development and earning to Nigeria .

“If Nigeria grows it’s cold chain industry the country will be able to meet all major certification standards and gap needs desired to export Nigerian produce to developed countries and developing climes.  This would invariably mean that Nigeria will begin to earn foreign exchange by exporting and selling produce that would have gone to waste in the country.  Nigeria has a big and wide variety of farm products produce that is well sought after outside the country like bananas,  avocado,  ginger,  garlic,  onions,  tomato,  cassava chips and even yams.

“Cold chain is a new and nascent industry in Nigeria that can create enormous employment benefits to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.  These benefits are going to cascade and have a domino effect on the economy.  The new and un-serviced part of cold chain can be manned,  and employment will be created in these different fields and chains of endeavour that speaks directly to cold chain, “he stated.