The Flour Milling Association of Nigeria (FMAN) has donated 50 AMAR multi-crop threshers to the Wheat Farmers Association of Nigeria as a demonstration of its commitment to boosting production capacity.
Specifically designed for wheat threshing, eight units each would go to Kano, Jigawa, Kebbi and Katsina while Sokoto, Bauchi, Kaduna and Zamfara will receive four units.
At the handing over, Flour Mill Nigeria Managing Director, Paul Gbededo, said the initiative would accelerate the government’s drive at attaining internal sufficiency in wheat production while saving foreign exchange.
FMAN had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the wheat farmers in 2016 to purchase all available wheat grain produced in the country in line with prevailing market prices.
The body, consisting of industrial wheat consumers including Dangote Group, Flour Mill Nigeria (FMN), Honeywell, Olam and Dufil, among others, fulfilled its pledge of purchasing over 2,400 metric tons of wheat valued at N467 million and 1,600 metric tons valued at N237 million.
“As we unveil 50 units of the AMAR Multi-Crop threshers, it is with the firm belief that our continued partnership with WFAN will see further improvements in the yields of wheat, as we collectively work towards our goals of reaching self-sufficiency in wheat production. This is the type of support that we have given in the past and will continue to give to develop wheat value chain in Nigeria,” he said.
Dangote Flour Mill Plc Managing Director, Thabo Mabe urged beneficiaries to prioritise quality produce to suit the specification for confectionary purposes such as bread or spaghetti noting that the mechanisation support could double the current output and drag down the 4.5million metric tons of importation.
“The unsustainable ways of threshing is the reason the majority of the wheat in the country is imported. We are trying to drive Nigeria to self sustainability since we have huge arable land that can be used for the benefit of the country. We are now mechanising the way we are threshing wheat. Our poor men and women do this manually but this equipment will mechanise, reduce cost and improve yield. That increases the amount of wheat produced per hectare. Once the yields are up, cost comes down and then the consumer is happy and prices will be sustained,” he said.
According to the Executive Director, Rotimi Fadipe, the association looks forward to a geometric increase in production after the application of the equipment. He noted that production was already nearing a million metric tonnes, marking a significant shift from previously low output.
“About two years ago, it was far less than 200 metric tonnes. What we did was to consult the farmers association who gave us specification and we tried to source from the best manufacturer. The product is a multi crop thresher specially made for wheat threshing.”