‘Horticulture clusters can unlock sector’s potential’

The adoption of a regional horticulture cluster model could help the nation unlock the full commercial value of its fruit and vegetable production.

Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT), Prof. Mohammed Lawal Atanda, said that the economy was losing a lot of revenue from horticulture with fragmented, smallholder-led production systems that lack coordination, infrastructure and reliable market access.

He said: “Nigeria is blessed with diverse agro-climatic zones, fertile soils and a hardworking farming population. What we lack is the coordination, shared infrastructure and market linkages that turn all of that potential into real income for farmers and real foreign exchange for the country. Regional horticulture clusters are not a luxury — they are a necessity if we are serious about feeding our population, creating rural jobs and competing on the world stage”.

The NIHORT chief explained that a regional agricultural cluster essentially brings together farmers, processors, service providers and other actors within a defined geographical production zone, allowing them to pool resources and share critical infrastructure such as irrigation systems, greenhouses, cold storage facilities and mechanisation services.

He said: “The purpose of a regional cluster is ecological and geographical concentration of farmers, processors and stakeholders across the value chain.”When producers operate within the same production ecosystem, they are able to share essential resources — irrigation, greenhouse facilities, storage and access to quality seeds. That improves productivity and efficiency significantly.”

According to him, clustering production also allows farmers to benefit from economies of scale that would otherwise remain out of reach for individual smallholders. “There is strength in numbers; when farmers are concentrated in one production belt, they can collectively access mechanisation, improved inputs and financing. What would ordinarily be waste for one producer becomes an input for another, which ultimately reduces post-harvest losses,” Atanda noted.

Nigeria currently loses between 30 and 40 per cent of its horticultural produce before it reaches consumers due to inadequate storage, transportation and processing facilities — a development, Atanda described as both avoidable and economically damaging.

“When a smallholder farmer in Benue, Kano or Ogun grows quality produce and then loses up to forty per cent of it before it reaches the consumer simply because there is no cold storage, no pack house or grading facility nearby, that is a systemic failure we must correct. The cluster model exists precisely to solve this problem by bringing infrastructure, services and market access closer to the farm gate,” he said.He added that clustering production also creates predictable supply zones that attract large-scale buyers and agro-processors. “When offtakers know there is a tomato production hub in Kaduna or a spinach belt in Cross River, they naturally gravitate toward those locations. Processors also move into these areas because they are assured of steady raw material supply. With agro-processing comes value addition, job creation and longer shelf life for perishable produce,”  he explained.

 Atanda stressed that regional clusters would accelerate technology transfer and innovation by bringing farmers into closer collaboration with research institutions such as NIHORT. The institute currently operates research stations across multiple agro-ecological zones, including Bagauda in Kano State, where improved production technologies are already being developed.

“Anybody operating within an agricultural cluster arrangement around our research stations will have easier access to our technologies. We can transfer innovations in protected cultivation, pest management, soil health and irrigation directly to farmers. Once artisans, technicians and service providers also gravitate toward these hubs, innovation becomes inevitable,” he said.

He pointed out that concentrated production zones would make it easier for government and development partners to target infrastructure investments such as rural roads, renewable power systems and logistics facilities. Financial institutions, he added, would also be more willing to lend to organised farmer groups operating within clusters than to isolated individual producers.

“Clusters improve financial inclusion because cooperatives within them provide assurance to lenders. When farmers are organised, financial institutions are more confident in extending credit. That ultimately improves food security and reduces dependence on imports,” he said.Atanda also referenced ongoing collaboration between the Nigerian government and the African Development Bank on agro-processing zones, noting that such initiatives align with the broader cluster development approach needed to strengthen horticultural value chains.

For communities across states with strong horticultural traditions — including Borno, Adamawa, Plateau, Ondo and Ogun — he believes the cluster model offers a pathway to stable rural employment, particularly for women and young people.

“The horticulture sector should be an engine of inclusive rural growth in Nigeria “With the right cluster architecture, we can create jobs that do not disappear with the rains and give young Nigerians a reason to remain in the agricultural economy. We can also position Nigeria as a producer of high-quality horticultural products for both domestic and international markets,” Atanda said.

He called for action from both public and private sector stakeholders.He said: “Every year we delay is a year of losses — losses in produce, farmer income, foreign exchange and employment opportunities,” he said. “Regional horticulture clusters are the answer. NIHORT stands ready to work with every state government, investor and development partner that is serious about making this happen. The time for studies and conferences is over. The time to build is now.”

‘Horticulture clusters can unlock sector’s potential’ - The Nation Newspaper