SIR: The global wheat market size is huge; it is estimated at $50.21 billion in 2024. However, Nigeria is just participating as a major importer despite having the potential to be a major wheat producer. It has been projected that local production of wheat has the potential to generate around 13 million jobs in the country.
The government is currently working to support domestic wheat production through the National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro Pocket (NAGS-AP) project rather than the continuous pursuit of import substitution with cassava which has not yielded substantial results. Many will recall that past governments have unsuccessfully campaigned to substitute a certain percentage of wheat flour for High-Quality Cassava flour-HQCF in composite flours used for baking bread, cake, and other confectioneries. The HQCF initiative, also tagged cassava bread initiative was aimed at discouraging the importation of wheat as part of efforts to promote cassava production thereby saving the country the huge sums it spends annually on wheat importation. Unfortunately, cassava could not effectively replace wheat in bread and other wheat-based food products given its natural characteristics and the logistic problem associated with aggregating huge quantities of cassava for industrial processing.
Wheat is the third most consumed grain in Nigeria after rice and corn and Nigeria’s wheat consumption as of today stands at about five million metric tons, while domestic production of wheat is just about 110,000 metric tons. In 2021, Nigeria imported $3.32 billion worth of wheat making her the second largest importer of wheat in the world. That whooping sum implied that wheat importation alone was almost five percent of the country’s total import bill. With the increasing demand for wheat-based foods like bread, noodles, and pastas, wheat has arguably become one of the most important agricultural commodities needing accelerated local production.
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So, developing the wheat value chain is very important for achieving food security, although before now, the Flour Milling Association of Nigeria (FMAN) which is a conglomerate of the major flour-producing companies, has been supporting the development of local wheat production with different kinds of support to farmers. The most significant is their partnership with the Lake Chad Research Institute for the development of improved varieties of wheat that are well suited for Nigeria’s ecology. Some progress has been made and currently, there are local varieties like Borlaug 100 and Attila that can effectively grow in places like Borno, Yobe, Gombe, Bauchi, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Zamfara, Kebbi, Sokoto, Plateau, Kaduna, and Adamawa.
For the government to succeed in the NAGS-AP project, research institutes must continue to produce breeder seeds and develop new varieties that will be further multiplied to create access to seed by farmers. The delivery of improved wheat seed varieties must go hand in hand with promotional activities to stimulate demand and popularize the cultivation of wheat seeds among farmers in Nigeria. Furthermore, incentives must be provided for farmers who will be engaged in the cultivation of wheat, these will include reduced cost of inputs, guaranteed markets, and pricing. But to join the league of wheat producers like China, the USA, Russia, and the rest, the government must lead by encouraging cluster farming. This includes providing irrigation facilities to enable production throughout the year. Finally, wheat must be identified as a priority value chain, for which the government must work with development partners working in the agricultural sector to prioritize the cultivation of wheat in their project areas.
- Godswill Aguiyi, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, Nairobi, Kenya.
