The National President, Federation of Agricultural Commodity Associations of Nigeria (FACAN), Dr Victor Inyama has urged operators to improve facilities at the seaports.
He said the bulk of agricultural produce are exported through the ports.
He said the ports lack sufficient capacity and infrastructure to handle the increasing quantities of agribulk exports. There are breakdowns of facilities during the peak periods, with queues of trucks building up outside the main ports’ gates, while vessels, too, struggle to find berths, he added.
Also, spokesman for the Cocoa Association of Nigeria, Robo Adhuze, called on the government to be serious about declining transportation infrastructure to avoid significant short- and long-term damage to the agric business sector.
He said agro-industrialists have more reasons to lament, adding that the ports system and its logistics counterpart are letting them down. In parallel, significant efforts need to be made to finally build new railways and also to pave roads, to provide suitable connection between the production areas and the selected northeast ports.
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