TRANSPORTATION AND DISTRIBUTION CHALLENGES OF FRESH VEGETABLES IN URBAN NIGERIA: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Abstract

Nigeria's rapid urbanisation has intensified demand for fresh vegetables, yet inefficient transportation and distribution systems critically undermine three dimensions of urban food security: availability, as post-harvest losses reduce effective supply; affordability, as transport costs inflate retail prices; and access, as infrastructure gaps restrict market reach for both farmers and consumers. Post-harvest losses ranging from 30–60% occur during transit from rural production zones to urban markets, driven by poor road infrastructure, inadequate cold chain facilities, and suboptimal handling practices. This loss range is crop-specific and regionally variable: tomatoes record the highest losses (45–60%), followed by leafy vegetables (40–50%), peppers (30–40%), and onions (20–30%), with losses intensifying during the rainy season when road conditions deteriorate. This review systematically examines vegetable transportation and distribution systems in Nigerian urban centres, guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework. A structured search across Google Scholar, Web of Science, African Journals Online (AJOL), and Scopus, combined with grey literature screening, yielded 47 relevant sources from an initial pool of 284 after title/abstract and full-text screening. Key findings reveal that vegetables travel an average of 200–800 kilometres along major northern-to-southern corridors (e.g., Kano–Lagos; Jos–Abuja), with trucking costs accounting for 40–60% of final retail prices depending on distance, route conditions, and commodity type. Distribution remains predominantly informal, characterised by multi-layered intermediation and weak market information systems. Emerging interventions including mobile cold-storage units (demonstrating 40–60% spoilage reduction in pilot deployments), digital marketplaces, and cooperative aggregation models show promise, though scaling is constrained by financing gaps, electricity unreliability, and weak policy coordination. Infrastructure development, phased cold chain investment targeting major transit nodes and wholesale markets, and coordinated stakeholder engagement are essential for reducing losses and enhancing urban food security in Nigeria.