Investing in Innovation

A Nigerian University Built a Drone and Cold Store to Cut Post-Harvest Losses

Nigeria loses 38 million tonnes of food a year after harvest, most of it grown by smallholders who have no cold chain to protect it. The Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, has patented two devices built for smallholder farms: a precision-agriculture drone and an on-farm cold store, both ready for a manufacturing partner.

Professor Ezekiel Oghenyerhovwo Agbalagba, Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun

Professor Ezekiel Oghenyerhovwo Agbalagba became Vice-Chancellor of FUPRE in May 2025.

Nigeria loses an estimated 38 million tonnes of food a year after harvest, worth around N5 trillion, and currently operates at only about 4 percent of the cold-chain capacity it needs.

More than 80 percent of Nigeria's farmers are smallholders working one to two hectare plots, the group formal cold-chain infrastructure rarely reaches.

FUPRE's patented UAV uses aerial sensing to target water and fertiliser to where crops actually need it, rather than applying either uniformly across a field.

Its cold-storage system cools produce on the farm itself, immediately after harvest, giving smallholders an alternative to the formal cold chain most of them cannot access.

Nigeria loses an estimated 38 million tonnes of food annually to post-harvest waste, more than any other country on the continent, according to 2026 data from the European Union and Nigeria's National Bureau of Statistics reported by The Guardian Nigeria. The paper put the economic cost at roughly N5 trillion a year, with losses of perishable produce specifically running at 40 to 50 percent between farm and consumer.

That loss lands hardest on the farmers least equipped to absorb it. More than 80 percent of Nigeria's farmers are smallholders working plots of one to two hectares, and they produce roughly 90 percent of the country's agricultural output, according to the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission. Formal cold-chain infrastructure, the trucks and warehouses that keep produce cool from farm to market, rarely reaches them: Nigeria operates at roughly 4 percent of the cold-chain capacity industry estimates say it needs, according to Businessday Nigeria, citing the Organization for Technology Advancement of Cold Chain in West Africa.

FUPRE's drone targets water and fertiliser to where crops need it

The Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, has built a patented UAV for precision agriculture. "It uses aerial sensing and data-driven technologies to support crop monitoring and improve farm management," says Ezekiel Oghenyerhovwo Agbalagba, the university's vice-chancellor. The drone flags where water, fertiliser or other inputs are actually needed, rather than applying them evenly across a field, cutting both waste and cost for the farmer.

How It Works

1The drone flies a set pattern over a field, capturing aerial imagery and sensor data on crop condition as it goes.

2That data is processed to identify variation across the field, patches under water stress, or short on nutrients, that are invisible from the ground.

3The system generates a map showing exactly where water, fertiliser or other inputs are needed, and where they are not.

4The farmer applies inputs only where the map indicates, rather than evenly across the whole field, cutting input costs and waste.

A cold store slows spoilage at the point of harvest

Alongside the drone, FUPRE has piloted a cold-storage system designed to sit on the farm itself, cooling produce immediately after harvest rather than during transport to a distant facility. "It can extend the shelf life of perishable products, reduce post-harvest losses and increase farmers' income," Agbalagba says. For a smallholder outside the reach of Nigeria's formal cold chain, an on-farm unit is the difference between produce that survives long enough to reach a buyer and produce that does not.

The devices come from a university pushing hard on patents

FUPRE trains engineers for Nigeria's oil and gas industry from its campus in Effurun, Delta State. Under Agbalagba, who became vice-chancellor in May 2025, the university filed 21 patents and invention disclosures in the 2025/26 academic year, a 40 percent rise on the year before, spanning robotics, renewable energy, automation and nanotechnology. The drone and the cold store are the two Agbalagba points to as ready for partnership now.

4 percent is the share of the cold-chain capacity Nigeria needs that it currently has, against 38 million tonnes of food lost every year.

FUPRE is seeking manufacturing and market partners

"We welcome investors who can provide funding, manufacturing capacity, market access and technical expertise to move these innovations from our university workshop to the field," Agbalagba says. Funding covers the manufacturing and testing costs a university department cannot carry alone; manufacturing capacity and market access are what turn a working prototype into a product a cooperative or agribusiness can actually buy.

Agbalagba names the measures he wants a partnership judged against: crop yield, reduction in post-harvest losses, farmers' income, number of farmers reached, jobs created and environmental impact. "Our plan is to identify patents with strong commercial potential and work with industry partners to develop, test and scale them," he says.

Sources

Ezekiel Oghenyerhovwo Agbalagba, Vice-Chancellor, Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun. Written responses to Innovation Report, August 2026.
"Food security paradox: How 'hungry' Nigeria loses 38 million tonnes to poor post-harvest plan", The Guardian Nigeria, 2026. guardian.ng
"Agriculture", Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission. nipc.gov.ng
"From farm to fridge: How investors can target Nigeria's N160bn cold-chain gap", Businessday Nigeria, 2026. businessday.ng