CLIMATE CHANGE AND POST-HARVEST LOSSES OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES IN NIGERIA: A CRITICAL REVIEW

Abstract

Agriculture, as a natural resource-based industry will be affected by climate change more than any other sector. Yet, much of the discourse on climate change has been on the mitigation of the causes of climate change like industrial CO2 emissions. This paper reviewed the consequences of climate change on post-harvest loss of fruits and vegetables in Nigeria. The specific objectives were to identify the causes of climate change; identify the causes of post-harvest losses; identify the effects of climate change on post-harvest losses; and proffer solutions to the effect of climate changes on the post-harvest losses in Nigeria. The result reveals that the causes of climate change are volcanic eruptions, ocean currents, meteorite impacts, solar variations carbon-dioxide, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbon, burning of fossil fuels, gas flaring, and deforestation. Also findings revealed that the causes of post-harvest losses include biological, chemical, mechanical, physiological, microbiological, improper post-harvest handling practices, inadequate facilities and necessary infrastructure, improper temperature management, inadequate of management knowledge/skill, inappropriate packaging, inadequate transportation facilities, inadequate marketing systems and government regulations and legislations. The effects of climate change on post-harvest losses include global warming, higher temperatures, higher humidity, and unseasonal rains. To address these challenges of climate change on post-harvest losses, several mitigation strategies, such as strengthening research and development institutions, improve access to information and capacity building, improve on post-harvest practices and governments’ policies improvement for postharvest loss reduction. The paper concluded that climate change seriously affect all the stages of food value chains of fruits and vegetables. The paper recommended that reducing food loss through improving storage technologies/ facilities can increase climate resilience and can reduce the vulnerability of fruits and vegetables to heat or pest infestation.