CBN Boosts Wheat Production With N41bn

By Fola James

The Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Godwin Emefiele has disclosed that the federal government is poised to end wheat importation in the country. As part of this initiative, the CBN Governor said the apex bank has set aside N41 billion for the wheat production in the country.

Emefiele said the apex bank’s intervention is expected to save the country $2 billion spent on importing five million metric tons of wheat annually through the intervention.

Nigeria currently produces 63,000 metric tons of wheat, less than one per cent of what is being consume locally.

Under this arrangement, the CBN has selected Heritage Bank to disburse the funds to farmers across the country for the expansion of Wheat Seed Multiplication Project, as part of the CBN’s Brown Revolution Initiative, in commencement of dry season farming. Over 150,000 farmers will benefit from this arrangement, Emefiele said, adding that the bank’s Anchor Borrowers Programme has paid off considering the increased production in major grains such as rice and maize.

According to him, the project will cover 15 states across the country with more than 180, 000 hectares of land ready to be cultivated.

Emefiele said “Wheat is the third most widely consumed grain in Nigeria after maize and rice. It is estimated 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.

“This enormous demand-supply gap is bridged with over $2 billion spent annually on wheat importation. This has made wheat the second highest contributor to the country’s food import bill.”

“Given the high growth rate of the country’s population and the demographic structure, the demand for wheat is projected to continue to rise. This can only intensify pressure on the country’s reserves unless we take a decisive step to grow wheat locally”.