By Deola Balogun

Nigeria built the strawberry value chain on a runway..the plane left! Now the harvest has nowhere to go.

We’ve entered strawberry season (November – February) with no credible way to move berries out of Jos.

For years, Arik was the only lifeline. In our own operations, we paid more per kg in air cargo than we paid farmers per kg 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.

But overnight, it collapsed, Arik stopped flying into Jos (Oct 2025). ValueJet is now the only carrier flying out from Jos, and they refused to carry strawberries.

So today, Nigeria has strawberries, but Nigeria cannot move strawberries.

So you would suggest using the road? Only if you’ve never tried it.

Fresh strawberries survive 1–4 days at room temperature. That is the entire window.

On our last attempt by road, we used Styrofoam boxes (additional cost), packed ice for 48 hours, turned prayer warrior against checkpoint delays and rough roads, but still lost 20–30% to sweating fruit, broken boxes, heat pockets and delays. You can’t get any refund, just absorb the losses and move on.
Road is not a solution today. It’s a controlled disaster.

One question from a farmer tells the whole story.

“Should I harvest, or let it rot so the loss impact is smaller?”

Peak harvest is here (15–30 tons/hectare), but farmers are debating whether picking their crop is the bigger loss. This is what a system failure sounds like, not some headlines or reports.

And this is not only a cold chain issue, the flaw runs deeper.

Nigeria built production without securing logistics, food security is logistics security. We’re not losing strawberries because farmers don’t know how to grow them, we’re losing them because a berry’s entire value chain depended on a plane we didn’t control.

If Plateau produces ~700 tons this season and we lose 50% due to lack of movement, 350 tons will rot in 120 days. By April, Lagos will import strawberries, puree and concentrate while fresh berries rot in Jos.

This season will decide whether Nigeria has a strawberry industry or just a strawberry harvest.

But this is the conversation Nigeria avoids, we celebrate yields without asking how food moves across the value chain, we talk about food security while losing food to logistics, not production, we push “value addition” while value dies at the farm gate, long before processing ever begins.

Strawberries are just the clearest example of a delicate fruit with a 4-day lifespan exposing a national blind spot.

However this isn’t a tragedy waiting to happen. It’s a test.

If harvest only creates beauty on the Plateau and scarcity in Lagos and the rest of the country, the numbers will speak louder than any report.

At the end of four months, one question will remain. What is the value of production if we cannot deliver the product?

Until we answer that honestly, we will keep planting pride and harvesting loss.

Deola Balogun is the Chief Operating Officer , Limlim Foods Production Ltd

Dear readers, we really need your support to keep on serving you with authoritative, truthful, and juicy stories everyday. For your support, please reach out to the editor @gavelinternational66@gmail.com