Nigeria's strawberry sector is facing distribution constraints following the suspension of air cargo services from Jos, the capital of Plateau State. The issue has emerged at the start of the main strawberry season, which runs from November to February, and is affecting growers, processors, and distributors.
Adeola Balogun, founder and chief operating officer of Limlim Foods Production Company, said the supply chain relied heavily on air transport. She noted that Arik Air had been the only consistent option for moving strawberries out of Jos and that the situation changed when the airline suspended its Jos operations in October 2025. According to Balogun, ValueJet, now the only commercial carrier operating from Jos, does not accept strawberries as cargo.
"Nigeria built the strawberry value chain on a runway. The plane left, now the harvest has nowhere to go," she wrote. She added that although air freight costs were high, the industry depended on it to deliver fresh berries nationwide. "In our own operations, we paid more per kilogram in air cargo than we paid farmers per kilogram of produce. Logistics cost more than the fruit, and we still paid for it, because at least the berries arrived fresh and wholesome across the country. Today, Nigeria has strawberries, but Nigeria cannot move strawberries."
Balogun said road transport is not a viable alternative for fresh strawberries. She explained that the fruit typically lasts between one and four days at room temperature, making long-distance road transport from Jos to major cities difficult due to travel times, road conditions, and handling issues. "Fresh strawberries survive 1-4 days at room temperature. That is the entire window. Road is not a solution today," she wrote, citing losses of 20% to 30% during previous road shipments.
According to Balogun, the disruption is occurring during peak harvest, with yields estimated at 15 to 30 tons per hectare. She said some farmers are reconsidering harvesting decisions due to the lack of reliable transport. "Peak harvest is here (15-30 tons/hectare), but farmers are debating whether picking their crop is the bigger loss," she stated.
She also outlined potential volume losses, writing, "If Plateau produces 700 tons this season and we lose 50% due to lack of movement, 350 tons will rot in 120 days." She added that fresh strawberries could be replaced by imports in downstream markets while local fruit remains unsold.
The situation has raised concerns about the alignment between production expansion and logistics capacity within Nigeria's strawberry value chain.
Source: The Sun
