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FG, AfDB Moves to Revolutionise Nigeria’s Wheat Value Chain
Gilbert Ekugbe
The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), and the African Development Bank (AfDB), have announced plans to revolutionise Nigeria’s wheat value chain by replicating the feat achieved in the country’s rice value chain.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Mohammad Abubakar, made this known at a stakeholders’ validation workshop of the National Wheat Strategy Document (NWSD) in Abuja.
Abubakar said that the NWSD was developed to increase production, income earnings and competitiveness of local production for the smallholder farmers in the wheat sub sector.
The NWSD, according to him, is part of the federal government’s commitment to validate the national wheat strategy policy, which is meant to rejig productivity of the wheat value chain.
The minister stressed that Nigeria has no option than to boost its domestic production of wheat to meet the country’s demand following the multiplier effects of COVID-19 and the current Russian/ Ukrainian war that have drastically affected the supply of wheat in the international market.
He pointed out that the federal government has remained committed to the development of wheat production because of the country’s annual requirement 5.7 million metric tonnes while its domestic production is currently 420, 000 metric tonnes.
Abubakar said: “The Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Statistical Report 2020, showed that Nigeria imports $6 billion worth of wheat from 2016 to 2020, adding that the situation is worrisome and unsustainable for a crop that could be produced locally.”
He also seized the opportunity to commend the ministers of Industry, Trade and Investment, Environment, FCT and the president of AfDB for offering support to cultivate 250,000 hectares of wheat this year.
Abubakar, therefore, appealed to the minister of Water Resources to partner with FMARD in the area of functional irrigation system during the dry season to ensure that the dream to boost wheat production in the country would become a reality.
In his welcome address, the minister of State, FMARD, who was represented by the Director, Federal Department of Agriculture (FDA) Mr. Abubakar Abdullah, said that the ministry’s partnership with the AfDB in wheat production would foster self-reliance and the administration’s agenda to create jobs.
In his goodwill message, The Director General of Nigeria Country Department, AfDB, Mr. Lamin Barrow, who was represented by the Chief Agro-Industry Officer, Mr. Tabi KariKari, said Nigeria would become self-sufficient in wheat production and a key exporter of the commodity in the sub-region by taking advantage of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Barrow anticipated that at least 250, 000 hectares would be put under cultivation, in clusters of 100 to 200 hectares in the upcoming dry season and with the support from the bank and other stakeholders that would provide seed, inputs, mechanisation and extension services using the innovation platforms.
