By Anthony Emeka Nwsu
A short strawberry season in Plateau State has evolved into a national wake-up call on the true state of Nigeria’s food supply chain, exposing how delays, weak logistics, and the absence of coordinated cold-chain infrastructure continue to undermine local production and fuel avoidable food losses.
At the centre of the conversation is Deola Balogun, Chief Operating Officer of Limlim Foods, who has been vocal about the point at which Nigeria’s food security challenge truly begins — not on the farm, but after harvest, when produce must move quickly or lose value.
“If a fruit has four days to live and your supply chain needs four days to move it,” Balogun said, “you are not moving food, you are funding loss.”
According to Balogun, strawberries grown in Jos this season provided a clear, unforgiving test of the country’s post-farmgate systems. Unlike staple crops that can withstand delays, strawberries deteriorate rapidly, making them a precise indicator of how well — or how poorly — logistics, storage, and transport systems function.
“Strawberries don’t give you room to adjust,” he explained. “In a weak chain, value collapses very fast. Farmers take the hit first. Buyers lose confidence in local supply. Imports quietly step in to fill the gap. And in the end, everyone pays more for food.”
The issue gained national prominence after Balogun published an analysis detailing the “break point” where real food loss begins in Nigeria’s value chain. The piece attracted the attention of Channels Television, which invited him to speak live on Christmas Day. Rather than focusing on agricultural potential or farm output, the interview centred on speed, systems, and the structural leaks draining value from Nigeria’s food economy.
“I wasn’t there to hype farming,” Balogun said. “I went to talk about time, systems, and where the money is leaking in our food chain.”
During the interview, Balogun pushed back strongly against claims that strawberries are an elitist or non-essential crop. He argued that such views miss the wider economic role strawberries already play in Nigeria’s food and hospitality sectors.
“Calling strawberries elitist misses the point,” he said. “They serve everyday demand for food processors. At Limlim Foods, we turn them into powders and bits used by yoghurt and ice cream makers, smoothie bars, bakeries, chocolatiers, hotels, and restaurants.”
He noted that when locally grown strawberries from Jos fail to reach these buyers within the narrow freshness window, demand does not disappear.
“When supply can’t arrive on time, buyers don’t stop producing,” Balogun explained. “They import. That’s the quiet leak Nigeria keeps paying for — import substitution happening by default, not by design.”
The impact of the televised conversation was swift. Within 48 hours of the broadcast, logistics operators contacted Limlim Foods to explore immediate solutions. Discussions quickly moved from general interest to actionable planning, focusing on January and February transport windows between Jos and Lagos.
“These were real conversations,” Balogun said. “We were talking cold-handling requirements, delivery windows, route timing, and landed cost — not theory.”
Building on this momentum, Balogun disclosed that meetings are scheduled with the Minister of Agriculture in January. The objective, he said, is singular and practical: to remove the delays, unofficial charges, and coordination failures that make it difficult and expensive to move fresh food across Nigeria.
“We’re pushing for a corridor pilot,” he stated. “Clear targets, a time cap, temperature control, and a lower loss rate this season. That’s how you prove systems work.”
Industry analysts say the Jos strawberry episode illustrates a broader truth about Nigeria’s food security debate — that production gains mean little without reliable movement and preservation infrastructure.
Balogun believes the solution lies in focused collaboration rather than broad policy statements.
“Nigeria doesn’t need more talk about food,” he said. “We need food that arrives on time.”
He has called on stakeholders across logistics, finance, policy, and food buying to support at least one dependable weekly run from Jos to Lagos during the peak season, describing it as a practical test of what is achievable with aligned incentives.
“If you control trucks, cargo space, capital, or policy, pick your lane,” Balogun urged. “Let’s do this properly this season.”
As images circulate of yoghurt, baked goods, desserts, and other products already being made from locally grown strawberries, the message remains pointed.
“Strawberries are not the problem,” Balogun concluded. “They are the warning.”
The full Channels Television interview continues to be shared among industry stakeholders as discussions intensify around building faster, more reliable farm-to-market systems that can reduce losses, strengthen local supply, and cut Nigeria’s dependence on food imports.