Wheat seed crisis: CBN wades in

One of the major factors affecting wheat production in Nigeria is the availability of improved and quality seeds for farmers. Experts have been calling for more interventions in the area of seeds production from research institutes, the federal government and many other stakeholders, if the problems bedeviling wheat production in the country are to be […]

One of the major factors affecting wheat production in Nigeria is the availability of improved and quality seeds for farmers.

Experts have been calling for more interventions in the area of seeds production from research institutes, the federal government and many other stakeholders, if the problems bedeviling wheat production in the country are to be addressed. 

Relevant statistics have shown that the country is producing less than five per cent of the annual requirements, putting pressure on foreign exchange as over 90 per cent of wheat consumed locally is imported.   

According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s data, Nigeria produces about 60,000 metric tonnes, and yearly demand stands at between 4.5 and 5.0 million tonnes.  

Mr John Ishiaku, a retired agriculturist, told Daily Trust on Sunday that it was unacceptable and unhealthy for the country to continue to depend on importation in order to meet its annual wheat demand.

He also blamed multinational firms that are into wheat-related products for not doing much to assist local farmers.

He said that most of these firms, by their actions, are deliberately working on killing the local initiative in wheat production so that they would continue to determine what goes on in the subsector, including product pricing.

Ishiaku called on relevant stakeholders to look into the activities of these multinationals while searching for permanent solution to the country’s wheat production challenges.

CBN wades in

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has moved in to address the challenges facing wheat farmers in the country, starting from seeds availability.

The apex bank said it would soon multiply about 13,000 metric tons of wheat seeds for farmers.

The bank also said it would expand wheat production to the North-Central, as well as South-West, to increase local production.

The director, Department of Development Finance in the CBN, Philip Yila Yusuf, recently said in Abuja that having realised the importance of wheat to food security, the bank’s focus on its value chain for the 2021/2022 dry season planting became imperative after sustainable progress had been made across the rice and maize value chains.

He was speaking at the Wheat Conference and Stakeholder Engagement, with the theme: ‘Improving and Sustaining the Wheat Value Chain Development in Nigeria.’

“The CBN plans to address key problems in the value chain through financing massive production of wheat in Nigeria, and seeks to facilitate sustained availability of high yield seed varieties in the country and improve general productivity,” he said at the event.

The CBN official noted that wheat was the second highest contributor to Nigeria’s food import bill, lamenting that it is mounting pressure on foreign reserves. 

He added that over $2 billion was spent yearly on the importation of over 5.0 million metric tonnes of wheat.

He said only 63,000MT of wheat, out of the 5-6 million MT consumed annually, is produced locally, noting that the CBN intervention became critical due to its high demand in Nigeria and prevailing shortages.

A former director-general of the Lake Chad Research Institute and consultant to the CBN on wheat seed multiplication, Dr Oluwasina Olabanji, said the regulatory bank had facilitated the importation of about 13,000 metric tonnes of improved and heat-tolerant wheat seeds, which were being multiplied in Jos, Plateau State and other locations.  

He said to maximise its production in the country, marginal areas for wheat production would be explored in the dry season farming.

Olabanji explained that about 13 states were suitable for growing wheat in Nigeria, but insecurity had drastically reduced their capacity.

However, he added that frontiers where trial plots would be experimented in the 2021/2022 dry season include Niger, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Benue and Oyo states. To him, the new frontiers would expand the capacity of the country to boost wheat production.

He said trial hectares would be planted and maintained by the Lake Chad Research Institute, wheat farmers and flour millers, and this is expected to reduce the importation of wheat.

Salim Muhammad, the national president of wheat farmers, also said Nigeria spent over $4.2 billion yearly on importation of wheat to meet its local demand of over 4.7million metric tonnes, yet the country is blessed with both human and material resources to meet the demand and export.  

He said this at a one-day agro-communication strategy workshop organised by the Agro-Processing, Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support Project (APPEALS), Kano State coordination office recently.

He said the same energy spent in encouraging the production of rice should also be extended to wheat production. 

Local demand of wheat in Nigeria is well over 4.7million metric tonnes, while production is below five per cent of local demand. This is a great challenge the federal government must tackle.

“Half of the over $4.2 billion we spend to import wheat can be used to grow the crop and even extend it to other countries through exportation,” he said.

He also alleged an international conspiracy against wheat farming in Africa and Nigeria particularly.

“Americans are the largest producers of wheat in the world. Most of the milling factories in Nigeria have been purchased by the Americans, but they encourage the growing of wheat in their home country, then import it to Nigeria, thereby giving a large chunk of the employment to their people but depleting our foreign reserves at the detriment of the Nigerian people.

“They hardly accept that the quality of our own wheat from our farm is good enough for processing.

“So, in my perspective, they are dumping on us and not allowing us to grow while we have the potentiality to grow the commodity in this country. We have a large land of over 650,000 hectares to grow wheat with available human resources,” he noted.