A Boost for Wheat Production

James Emejo writes that the current drive by the CBN to boost local wheat production will place Nigeria among the world’s top producers and exporter of the commodity in the near future

Last week, President Muhammadu Buhari, in Jos, Plateau State, flagged-off the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) first ever rain-fed wheat programme in the country.

The initiative, which seeks to slash the importation of the food commodity by 60 per cent in two years, will allow the country to produce wheat all-year-round.

Before now, local wheat production is limited to a particular season- the harmattan – but the new effort will ensure that the commodity is cultivated during the rains as well.

Besides, the provision of improved wheat seed variety with potential for high yields appeared to be a major game-changer in wheat production in the country.

Presidential nod

Buhari, while commending the apex bank’s intervention said his administration desired to leave a legacy of achieving zero importation of wheat before leaving office, adding that government will work with all stakeholders to ensure this objective is achieved in the most impactful way for the Nigerian economy.

Specifically commending the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele for his ingenuity, Buhari said the ongoing initiative we will no doubt attain self-sufficiency in wheat production, attract more players to the wheat value chain and foster job creation in the country.

He said,” At this juncture, I will like to commend the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Goodwin Emefiele and his tireless team for their effort not just in the agriculture value chain but in almost all sectors of the economy as shown in the recent launch of some transformative initiative like the 100 for 100 policy for production and productivity.”

Represented at the occasion by the Governor of Plateau State, Mr. Simon Lalong, the president also said that the federal government remained committed to the continued support for the agricultural sector to ensure sustainability of food security efforts, contribute to foreign reserve accretion and ultimately support the growth of the Nigerian economy and encouraged the private sector to key into agricultural financing initiatives provided by the CBN and other government agencies.

Impact on Reserves

According to the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), food preferences in Sub-Saharan Africa had been shifting for decades from traditional staples including coarse cereals to wheat and rice.
Also, the appetite for wheat is further stimulated by urbanisation, a growing middle class and changing lifestyles, including women who work, are driving a rapid rise in demand for wheat.

The center however, pointed out that production in the region had been constrained while consuming countries draw on foreign reserves to import at least $12 billion-worth of grain each year.

A former director of CIMMYT’s socioeconomics programme, Bekele Shiferaw, said, “Most countries produce less than a quarter of what they could, adding that, “There are many opportunities to raise wheat area and yields.”

According to Emefiele, Nigeria spends about $2 billion annually to import over five million metric tons (MT) of wheat to meet local demand, making it one of the highest food import bills, putting huge pressure on scarce foreign exchange.

Constraints

According to the CBN governor, local production remained at about one per cent of local demand, partly as a result of low local production caused by low yields, poor irrigation facilities, lack of ready market for product and lack of sufficient high yield seed varieties.

Notably, the CBN’s decision to intervene in the wheat sector is in fulfillment of its five-year policy thrust, 2019 – 2024, to among other things, grow external reserves; and support efforts at diversifying the economy through intervention programmes in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors.

Emefiele noted, “We are confident that when implemented, these measures will help to insulate our economy from potential shocks in the global economy.”

Speaking during the unveiling of the wheat programme, Emefiele remarked that the efforts would as well save the country about $2 billion annually in foreign exchange, adding that following the successes in the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP), the apex bank decided to extend the gains recorded in the rice and maize value chains to wheat production.

He said the plan was to ultimately eliminate wheat importation or reduce it to an insignificant contributor to the country’s total food import bill, adding that the wheat programme would benefit over 150,000 farmers stressing that the programme would be implemented in 15 States on about 180,000 hectares of land.

The CBN governor, who was represented at the occasion by CBN Deputy Governor, Corporate Services Directorate, Mr. Edward Adamu, at the unveiling of the Nigerian Brown Revolution, which is a CBN wheat value chain intervention, assured that the programme would address the impact of wheat importation on foreign exchange.

He added the programme was expected to add about 2,000 metric tons of seeds to the nation’s national seed stock and potentially add 750,000 metric tons of wheat to national output annually through rain-fed wheat cultivation in Plateau, Mambila Plateau and Obudu Plateau in the short-term.

Emefiele, however, pointed out that wheat remained the third most widely consumed grain in the country after maize and rice, adding that the country only produces about one per cent (63,000 metric tons) of the 5-6 million metric tons of the commodity consumed annually in Nigeria.

He said the enormous demand-supply gap is bridged with over $2 billion spent annually on wheat importation, making wheat the second highest contributor to the country’s food import bill.

He said given the high growth rate of the country’s population and the demographic structure, the demand for wheat is projected to continue to rise, thereby intensifying pressure on the country’s reserves unless a decisive step was taken to grow the commodity locally.

The CBN boss also pointed out that over the years, the availability of low-yielding seeds variety locally and poor agronomic practices had hampered successful cultivation of wheat in the country, leading to low productivity as well as making wheat production unappealing to farmers and unattractive to private sector investment.

He added that the CBN, in order to change the narrative and leverage domestic production to bridge the demand-supply gap in the country, decided to add wheat to the list of focal commodities to be supported under the bank’s agricultural intervention programmes.

He pointed out that improved seeds varieties constituted the bedrock of any crop production process, adding that the country had made some progress with regards to acquisition of high yielding varieties from Mexico with potential average yield per hectare of 5-7 metric tons as against a range of 0.8-1.8 metric tons yield per hectare of those varieties previously cultivated.

Emefiele said that the two-pronged approach of seed multiplication and grains production already adopted is expected to sustain the propagation of seeds and guarantee availability of high-yielding seeds to farmers.
He said the CBN’s strategy for the wheat value chain involved ensuring availability of high-yield seeds by financing seed multiplication and establishment of seed ripple centres.

Others include expanding land under cultivation for wheat to a capacity that could meet total national demand through association and collaboration with relevant federal agencies and state governments.

He said the strategy was to also pursue strategic collaboration with key stakeholders in the wheat value chain for sustained local production.

Emefiele, however, said food security remained a major delivery for governments across the globe; hence the bank is supporting the efforts of the federal government by providing affordable and accessible financing options to drive domestic food production.

He said the ABP remained a game changer in financing smallholder farmers through innovative funding models centred around building an effective agro-ecosystem, hinged on the value chain approach adding that it had recorded successes in supporting smallholder farmers to increase the cultivation of different commodities across the 36 States of the federation including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Brown Revolution

Emefiele said the flag-off of the wheat programme was auspicious in a lot of ways as it heralds the commencement of the Brown Revolution Journey, which is the CBN’s mantra for repositioning wheat production in the country, adding that it is the first major wet season wheat production in the country with about 700 hectares put under cultivation in Kwall, Kassa, Jol, Kafi Abu and Sop in Jos.

He said, “The CBN will not rest on its oars as we continue to work with our partners, Lake Chad Research Institute (LCRI), to expand the frontiers of wheat production in Nigeria to areas like northern Oyo, Kogi and Kwara states.

“The wheat fields you are seeing here today are historic and further underscore the enormous potential in our agricultural landscape.

“We are hopeful that with the right technology and agronomic practices, we can change the narratives and develop two wheat cropping cycles to support an aggressive drive to bridge the wheat demand-supply gap in Nigeria.”

Farmers welcome programme

The CBN’s intervention has further attracted accolades from stakeholders particularly the wheat farmers.
The National President, Wheat Farmers Association of Nigeria (WFAN), Mr. Salim Muhammad, told THISDAY, “Envisage a revolution in the production of the commodity”, adding that the country could become self-sufficient and net exporter of wheat within a short time.

Muhammad said apex bank’s intervention had brought unspeakable expression of satisfaction of farmers at the moment and remarked that the apex bank had solved a greater challenge in wheat production in the country.
He said, “Initially our major challenge was the seed but now the CBN has taken that one and addressed the issue. So by next season, it’s going to be something different.”

According to him, “Initially wheat is always grown during harmattan season and only once in a year but with the coming of this Brown Revolution, has indicated that wheat can be grown twice in the season – the wet and dry season.

Export Potential

He said with the injection of life to the commodity production, exportation was only a matter of time.

He said, “We all know the challenges this country is facing over wheat importation but now the CBN has proven beyond reasonable doubt that we can grow wheat in Nigeria, reduce the import bill and we are even thinking of a time whereby Nigeria will start exporting wheat outside the country.”

“Because we have the potential, the land is available, farmers are there and being trained on several innovations under foreign and local agencies. We are willing and the CBN now is apt and coming to make sure this import bill is reduced drastically in the country. I assure you that at the end of this programme, by next season, it could be a different scenario and a different story because we are currently growing wheat on a very small scale but I am sure that by next season, the real revolution will start.”

He said, “You will see wheat all over Nigeria because currently we are producing wheat in 16 wheat producing states but by this dry season, with improved seeds available, we are going to expand our scope to cover other areas that can produce wheat during the dry season. I am not saying we are going to cover the whole 36 States of the country but I assure you that by next season we should be thinking of about 26 to 27 states engaged.

“We have ready established the structures in the states, we are just waiting for this kind of event and support from the CBN. And now the CBN has demonstrated that they are into it and we are also willing and we will be into it. And we will make sure that we produce much to feed local demand and have an export at a later time in few years to come.”

Elimination of Importation

Nevertheless, the CBN’s ultimate objective is to completely eliminate wheat importation within three years as well as seek to expand land under cultivation in wheat to marginal and new areas in addition to having two cultivation cycles in a year.

Emefiele said, “The sustainability of locally available high yields seed varieties is also essential to the success of the initiative.”

Promising outcome

According to the CBN governor, through the collaboration with value chain stakeholders, the bank and its partners undertook an intricate Seed Multiplication Programme (SMP) which had increased the national stock of high yield seed variety by about 20,000MT of seeds to serve as a foundation for the entire programme going forward.

Also, the CBN had trained over 100 Nigerian extension services officers on Good Agronomic Practices (GAP) on wheat production for better outcomes.

Analysts believe that going by the increasing intervention programmes by the CBN in priority sectors of the economy in recent times, boosting local output and effectively diversifying the base of the economy is only a matter of time, especially as the country craves for double-digit growth.

According to CIMMYT, if properly harnessed, wheat production could be a veritable means for poverty alleviation and economic prosperity for low-income countries in particular.

Its positive impact on the Nigerian economy can only be imagined.