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Nigeria lost $6bn to wheat importation in 4 years – Nanono  

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sabo Nanono, has said that Nigeria lost about $6 billion on the importation of wheat from 2016 to June 2020, going by statistics from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.

Mr. Nanono disclosed this while delivering a keynote address at the wheat stakeholders’ workshop on Friday in Kano.

According to him, the trend is unsustainable. He explained that national production of wheat stood at 420,000 metric tons while the national consumption was 5.26 million metric tons, giving a deficit of about 4.5 million tons.

The minister said that to bridge the gap, there was a need for massive investment into the wheat value chain which would be backed by the right policies to protect the sector.

Represented by Director, Federal Department of Agriculture, Karima Babangida, the minister said: “The huge bill is unsustainable and underscores the need to develop the value chain in order to reduce its importation, enhance food security, create jobs, reduce poverty and conserve scarce foreign exchange.

“Ministry through the Wheat Value Chain has put in place various measures to increase wheat production and productivity as well as reduce the import bill, these include making available various classes of seeds to wheat farmers,” the minister explained.

Mr. Nanono described the theme of the workshop: ‘Transforming Wheat Production in Nigeria through Increasing Synergies and Adopting New Technologies’ as apt, urging the participants to come up with how the country could meet her wheat demand.

He said the objective of the workshop was to review the current status of the subsector, identify the challenges and opportunities, proffer solutions to these challenges, as well as chart a roadmap for its development.

The minister commended President Muhammadu Buhari for making agriculture the center of its economic diversification agenda.

Earlier, the Deputy Governor of Kano state, Nasiru Gawuna, commended the Federal Government for giving priority to agriculture.

Mr. Gawuna, who is also the commissioner for agriculture in the state, restated the state government’s commitment to transforming the agric sector.

He charged the participants to come up with a robust method of boosting food production in the country.

Also, the president of Wheat Farmers Association of Nigeria, Salim Ahmad, urged the Federal Government to give priority attention to wheat as it did to rice.

He also appealed to the government to fund research institutes in the country to enable them to provide high-yielding seeds to the farmers.

 

 

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