Harvestfield Begins Manufacturing to Cut Nigeria’s Reliance on Imported Malaria Nets
Harvestfield Healthcare has started producing next-generation mosquito nets in Nigeria, strengthening local capacity to tackle insecticide-resistant malaria.
The move comes as mosquito populations across Nigeria increasingly develop resistance to pyrethroid insecticides, which are widely used in conventional insecticide-treated nets.
The company began operations at its manufacturing facility in the Harvestfield Free Trade Zone, Ogun State, on September 13, 2026, with the plant already supplying a World Bank-funded malaria programme covering 31 states across Nigeria.
The facility is the first wholly Nigerian-owned manufacturing plant in the country producing dual active ingredient long-lasting insecticidal nets of the pyrethroid-chlorfenapyr class.
Harvestfield manufactures the nets under a manufacturing agreement with GDM Health Products, producer and owner of Synera DuoForte, a World Health Organisation-prequalified dual active ingredient long-lasting insecticidal net.
Unlike conventional nets that rely primarily on pyrethroids, Synera DuoForte combines a pyrethroid with a second insecticide that operates through a different mode of action. The combination is designed to maintain insecticidal effectiveness in areas where mosquitoes have developed pyrethroid resistance.
The World Health Organisation recommends dual active ingredient nets for areas with established pyrethroid resistance.
According to Harvestfield, the manufacturing facility is included as an approved production location under the product’s WHO prequalification. The Ogun State plant is also certified by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and holds ISO certification.
Jon Bastow, a representative of GDM Health Products, said the partnership with Harvestfield would support the production of Synera DuoForte in Nigeria, which has the world’s largest malaria burden.
Commenting on the development, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, said building domestic capacity to manufacture health products was central to Nigeria’s health security.
He noted that a Nigeria-based facility producing next-generation insecticide-treated nets to international standards and supplying programmes across 31 states represented the type of domestic capability targeted under the Federal Government’s health agenda.
Harvestfield’s entry into manufacturing builds on 26 years of experience in Nigeria’s vector control sector. The company said the Harvestfield Group has supplied more than 42 million insecticide-treated nets across all 36 states and has served as an exclusive national distribution partner for WHO-prequalified nets since 2018.
The transition from distribution to manufacturing is expected to strengthen the domestic supply chain for insecticide-treated nets and reduce exposure to overseas supply disruptions.
Local production could also reduce reliance on the 45 to 60-day ocean journey associated with imported nets, allowing suppliers to respond more quickly to changes in malaria control requirements and insecticide resistance patterns.
Dr Abdul Mukhtar of the Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain (PVAC) said the initiative was designed to move Nigeria from importing health products towards domestic production.
According to him, the presence of a Nigerian manufacturing facility that meets international standards and can supply products at a national scale is consistent with the objectives of the healthcare value-chain initiative.
The investment is also expected to create local capabilities in manufacturing, technical operations, quality control and regulatory compliance, which could support the production of other healthcare products in the future.
Harvestfield said the malaria net manufacturing facility represents the first platform in its broader strategy to build healthcare manufacturing capacity in Nigeria.
The development aligns with the Federal Government’s drive to expand domestic production of health products under the Renewed Hope agenda for health, the Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain and the Nigeria First procurement policy.
