Soybean commercial usage, insurgency create N225bn domestic supply gap

Growing commercial utilisation of soyabean in the human food and animal feed industries and insurgency in Northern part of Nigeria have created a domestic supply gap of about N225 billion. Sotonye Anga, coordinator, Community of Agricultural Stakeholders of Nigeria (CASON), recently said in Lagos, as “demand for soyabeans in Nigeria is about N300 billion.”

According to Novus Agro Commodity report, a ton of soyabean currently goes for N95,000 to N180, 000, depending on the location of the market. The price per ton it is sold for in Lagos State is N135,000 and this is the average price for the different prices in the six geopolitical zones.

Dividing the N300 billion market worth with N135,000 puts annual demand for soyabean at about 2.2 million metric tons. The result of this computation is in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) report on Grains Demand and Commodity Prices of 2013, which put industrial demand for soybean seed at about a total of 2,270,700 tons. Anga also confirms the Global Alliance on Improved Nutrition (GAIN) report that puts Nigeria’s current annual production of soyabeans at about 500,000 to 600,000 metric tons (10m to 12m bags of 50kg).

This indicates that domestic supply gap of about 1.5 million metric tons of soyabeans (30m bags of 50kg) worth N225 billion exists. So, Nigeria currently produces only 25 percent of its annual soyabeans, leaving a gap of about 75percent.

Apart from industrial usage, the insurgency in Northern states has also contributed to the huge shortfall in domestic supply. According to industry watchers, Buni Yadi in Yobe State is an example of one of the towns that produced very large quantities of soyabeans in Northern Nigeria.

Buni Yadi came under heavy terror attacks at the height of insurgency in Nigeria and many farmlands were abandoned, and even till date, many of these farmlands still lie fallow.

Seyi Gbadamosi, chief executive, Royal Farm Produce/Researcher, affirms that there is an all-year- round demand for soyabeans, saying “after sorghum, soyabean is the most profitable grains to invest in, whether the investor wants to grow it or trade in it. Processing or reprocessing it for the industrial market is also highly profitable. In fact, the profit from processed soyabean is higher.”

Nnamdi Anakwe, chief executive, Foraminifera Market Research, also says that soyabean has very huge market potential due to some of its uses, such as usage as a food condiment and seasonings.

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in one of its reports says leading infant food manufacturers in the country use soybean because of its high nutritional value. Soybean is also processed into flour and soybean oil is used in the local paint, cosmetics, and soap making industries.

Companies such as Nigeria-based Karma Foods Limited, which has established a multi-billion naira factory on the outskirts of Abuja, uses and seeks locally produced soyabean for the manufacturing of its products, boosting the demand.

Direct human consumption of soyabean and its usage as animal feeds are also very significant in Nigeria, especially among rural low-income groups that cannot really afford animal protein sources such as meat, fish and eggs.

OLUYINKA ALAWODE