Nigeria is one of Africa’s foremost agricultural producers, with many of its arable lands yet to be cultivated. Essential crops such as cassava, yams, maize, rice, and groundnuts are grown in large quantities and serve as staples across various regions. Nevertheless, a considerable amount of harvested produce is wasted due to insufficient processing and storage infrastructure.

A long-standing problem in Nigeria’s agricultural industry is post-harvest losses due to poor food processing techniques, insufficient road infrastructures for getting farm produce to the market, and inadequate storage infrastructures to preserve the quality before processing. As a result, local food processing is gaining recognition as a crucial element in enhancing agricultural production, creating employment opportunities, and ensuring food security in Nigeria. The potential of local food processing to connect farmers with consumers that can transform perishable items into durable products such as flour, oils, and packaged foods is a promising avenue for economic growth in Nigeria.
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As part of efforts to revamp agriculture, ensure food security and promote local economy, Professor James Adeyanju and his team in the Food Engineering Department at the prestigious Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, have been pioneering solutions in modern technologies for local food processing. Their research efforts are significantly tailored towards innovative ways to optimize food-making processes and enhance food quality towards offering promising solutions for improving public nutrition, reducing food insecurity and mitigating agricultural wastes. Some of Professor Adeyanju’s research efforts in food processing have focused on producing quality flour through optimal blending of flour from different food produce towards improving the nutritional quality of baked products. By developing and applying credible optimization model equation, he was able to predict how temperature and baking time affect quality of baked products by optimizing four different flour combinations to minimize moisture, fat content, while improving texture, and color.

In one of these projects, he and his research team explored using a blend of locally cultivated wheat, fonio, and pigeon pea flour to enhance the nutritional value of cookies. These procedures using the developed food processing models have been adopted for investigating the optimal nutritional composition of new-type of biscuits made from wheat, acha, and African yam bean flour, resulting in improved protein, ash, and fiber content, and offering a viable solution to combat protein-energy malnutrition in developing countries.

In one of the study, Prof. Adeyanju’s research on biscuits made from acha and pigeon pea flour in various ratios revealed that an appropriate blend of acha and pigeon pea produced the most acceptable sensory qualities and increased nutritional value, offering a solution to reduce reliance on imported wheat and support local crop utilization. In another study investigating the quality of Irish potato chips, Professor Adeyanju explored how different pretreatment such as varying frying temperatures and times influenced the physical and sensory qualities of deep-fat fried plantain chips (ipekere). The research found that pretreatment significantly impacted moisture, protein, fat, and carbohydrate levels, as well as the chips’ color and taste. The research demonstrates the potential of pretreatment methods to enhance the quality of potato-based products, offering producers new ways to improve the texture and flavor of chip and providing insights into the optimal frying conditions for plantain, paving the way to produce plantain chips with superior quality.

According to Professor Adeyanju, developing agricultural value chains by empowering research into local food processing and post-harvest technologies is crucial for the socioeconomic growth of Nigeria. With adequate support from the government at all levels and support from other funding organizations for cutting-edge research, the local food industry can significantly impact Nigeria’s economic development and the general welfare of the teeming population, especially for reducing post-harvest losses and empowering farmers (food producers) within the rural communities. Significantly, reducing postharvest losses and food waste through improved local food processing techniques can increase food security, and change Nigeria’s agricultural environment while promoting a more sustainable food value chain.
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