The Flour Milling Association of Nigeria (FMAN) has granted N50 million to the Lake Chad Research Institute (LCRI) to promote seed production. The institute is tasked with producing foundation seeds to multiply four newly released high-yielding wheat varieties for subsequent dissemination to farmers in the coming seasons. This initiative aims to reduce seed importation and establish a more sustainable seed supply for the industry.
Aliyu Samaila, the National Program Manager of the Wheat Development Program at FMAN, presented the cheque at the 2023 Regional Wheat Summit organized by the West and Central Africa Collaborative Network (WECAWheat).
Dr Samaila emphasised the impact on bread prices due to the reliance on imported ingredients for production. He noted that efforts are underway to localize production, acknowledging that it will take time for prices to decrease, but the industry is moving in the right direction.
“In the last 2-3 years, we have been using local seed companies to produce our farmers’ seeds, but the foundation seeds are imported. This time around, we will use the foundation seeds produced by the LCRI, the institute mandated to produce breeder and foundation seeds. We have given them our support, so next year, you will see us using local foundation seeds to produce certified seeds that farmers will grow.”
FMAN called on other stakeholders to join this initiative, envisioning that in a few years, Nigeria will achieve self-sufficiency in seed production, leading to increased wheat production and a subsequent reduction in the prices of bread.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, highlighted the surge in wheat demand in the West and Central Africa region, creating a significant gap between supply and demand. He noted that the dependence on $6 billion worth of wheat imports between 2016 to 2020 is unsustainable, given the national requirement of approximately 6.0 million tonnes annually.
Representing Kyari at the Summit, Abubakar Garba, the Director of the Ministry, emphasized the need to intensify and accelerate wheat production in the West and Central Africa region, especially in light of external events such as the Russian/Ukraine war and India’s wheat export ban, which pose threats to food and nutrition security.
In his remarks, Professor Baba Gana Kabir, the Executive Director of the Lake Chad Research Institute, revealed that the institute has registered and released 17 wheat varieties, with more expected in the near future. He assured unwavering commitment to excellence in wheat research and development of the value chain, including technology development and transfer, reiterating the institute’s commitment to collaborating with all stakeholders in the wheat value chain to address wheat crises and enhance food security in the region.
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