‘Indigenous wheat growers have capacity to meet local demand’

Salim Saleh Mohammed, national president, Wheat Farmers Association of Nigeria, in an interview with BusinessDay Adeola Ajakaiye in Kano shed light on the Nigerian wheat production and its challenges. Excerpt

Do local farmers have the capacity to meet market demand?

Why should we be spending so much foreign exchange in importing wheat when we have the potential of growing wheat to meet local demand? Nigeria is spending over $140 billion on the importation of wheat to bridge the supply-demand gap. We have been campaigning for the revival  of wheat production in the country, fortunately for us, there is a West African project which was embarked upon that has help us to bring back wheat production through Lake Chad Research Institute, and IAR Zaria. We now have new variety test and we have even migrated from foundation seed to breeder seed, and very soon, we are going to have our own certified seeds, and some of the wheat varieties tested in this country are very promising, and farmers are into the cultivation of these crops.

What is the model for local wheat production?

I personally develop a model which I call Revive Wheat Production Model 2015/2016; I have presented this model during one of the meetings with stakeholders organised by the Lake Chad Institute, and IAR Zaria. I have approached some financial institutions so see if they can key in, and support us with money to go into the production, and we have consulted some state governments.

President Muhammadu Buhari  has told us that their major focus is agricultural development,  which wheat is one  of the area of focus, and  the government has even ask the central bank to intervene in the production of rice, and wheat, I attended the meeting of the central bank with millers and stakeholders in the wheat industry. We were 12 states producing wheat in Nigeria, but due to insurgency activities in Yobe, and Borno states we are now 10 producing states.

Is there any value addition in wheat production in the country? 

We are planning to add value to wheat production, as you know, before now Nigeria wheat millers are not taking locally grown wheat, this has being challenging for wheat farmers, but things have changed lately, millers are showing interest in our wheat. There is also an investment in the value chain with the Kano state chapter of the Wheat Growers Association of Nigeria purchasing some sorting, cleaning and grading machine to clean the grains for millers like the ones imported from aboard.  The machine cost the association about N20 million. We have also applied for a compact flour milling machine from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. The government has given us 50 percent subsidy on the actual cost of the machine which is also a plus to the programme. We currently don’t have the capacity to meet local demand but we want to maintain our percentage of the market share.

Why do millers prefer foreign wheat to locally grown ones?

Millers prefer foreign wheat to locally produced ones because of the local way we process and bag our wheat.  In addressing this issue, the Kano state chapter of our association has ordered two combined harvesters, so that harvesting at farm point can be properly done as well as graded. This is just a practical perspective of what we are doing to address some of the challenges in wheat production in the country.

How do you intend to make Kano a hub for wheat production?

The idea is geared at improving quality of our wheat production here in Kano, is also going to be replicated in other wheat growing states in the country, for now we are working on the plan in which wheat growers in other parts of the country brings their produce to Kano, for proper cleaning, grading, and processing in order to boost the quality of their produce, and of taking by millers.  The reason why we want to have a central control hub is to ensure we have a guaranteed minimum price for the commodity in all the wheat producing states, considering the terrain, the environment, and cost of production per state, the other reason is ensure that we have a central market for grain to guarantee a minimum price, and to address the problem of sub-standard grains entering into the country.  Nigerian imports poor quality grains from neighbouring  West African countries into the country which local millers  says is local grown ones in the country and has made them to refuse our wheat for milling.

What are the factors hampering wheat production in Nigeria?

One thing that is hampering effective production of wheat in the country is the market, and now the market is very ready, and available, the millers are also ready to buy the products, farmers have nothing to fear. High cost of production is another factor hampering wheat production in the country. Sub-standard wheat that comes into the country comes at a cheaper price. We need to make our wheat competitive, so that it can have a wider market. The issue of mechanisation is another problem. Foreign farmers are using mechanised process of production, while here we still battle with our local ways of production.

Adeola Ajakaiye