Key facts
- Nigeria's annual wheat demand is 5-6 million metric tons, with local production at only 1%.
- The country imports over 5 million metric tons of wheat annually, costing $2 billion.
- Wheat is the second-largest contributor to Nigeria's food import bill.
- The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is financing local wheat production through its Anchor Borrowers Programme.
- The CBN aims to eliminate wheat imports and achieve self-sufficiency in the wheat value chain.
- Key production areas are identified in Plateau, Taraba, and Cross River states.
Nigeria faces a significant gap between its wheat demand and local production, necessitating substantial annual imports. The country's demand for wheat stands between 5 to 6 million metric tons, but domestic production accounts for a mere 1%, or approximately 63,000 metric tons. This deficit forces Nigeria to import over 5 million metric tons of wheat each year, at a cost of $2 billion, making wheat the second-largest component of the nation's food import expenses.
In response, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has identified wheat as a key commodity for intervention under its Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP). The primary objectives of this initiative are to facilitate import substitution, eliminate dependence on foreign wheat, and promote self-sufficiency through increased local production and backward integration by wheat millers. The CBN's strategy involves financing local wheat cultivation and offtake, ensuring the availability of high-yield seeds through multiplication and seed centers, and expanding land under cultivation in collaboration with state governments and federal agencies.
While wheat can be grown in 16 states during the dry season, three states possess the capability for highland rain-fed cultivation: Jos in Plateau State, Gembu on the Mambilla Plateau in Taraba State, and Obudu Plateau in Cross River State. The CBN anticipates that its intervention will lead to improved overall yields, a sustainable supply of high-yield seed varieties, enhanced international competitiveness of Nigerian wheat in terms of cost and quality, and improved farmer capacity through training and technology transfer.