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Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has announced that farmers in the country will be generating about N42 billion from wheat production. The minister made this announcement during the 2014 Wheat Farmers’ Day in Kadawa, Kano State. The programme is expected to generate about one million jobs and help reduce unemployment, particularly in the northern part of Nigeria. Dr. Akinwunmi noted that wheat importation is costing Nigeria about N635 billion annually in importation. “Today Nigeria wheat import is about 4 million metric tonnes per year and it’s estimated to grow by 5 per cent per year”. “By the year 2030, Nigeria will be importing 10 million Metric tonnes of wheat every year. That means Nigeria will be spending $10 billion every year on wheat importation”, Adesina said. He added that the FG intends to increase the volume of wheat production in the country from 300,000 metric tonnes to about 1.5 million metric tonnes by 2017. “This is not a mirage, that’s why we are here, a silent revolution is happening on farms across northern Nigeria. We have begun the massive distribution of hybrid wheat seeds which gives five to six tonnes per hectare to our farmers through the Growth Enhancement Support and the E-wallet system”, Adesina stated.  
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This article was first published on 18th March 2014

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