Loan supports Nigeria wheat production

Scaling up wheat production in Nigeria has received support from a $163 million African Development Bank (AfDB) loan, the government said.

Nigerian Vice President Kashim Shettima made the loan announcement during a visit to Argungu, Kebbi State, allAfrica reported.

Shettima said 50,000 hectares in Jigawa State and 10,000 hectares in Kebbi would be utilized as part of the wheat project, which would be launched Nov. 10 as part of the government’s commitment to agriculture and food security.

Nigeria, with a population of about 217 million people, has the largest market in Africa. Despite its substantial arable land area, the country relies on imports to meet its food and agricultural product needs, according to the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the US Department of Agriculture.

As part of its wheat self-sufficiency drive, the government aims to cultivate 250,000 hectares of wheat during the 2023-24 cropping season. The FAS is forecasting production of 156,000 tonnes of wheat for 2023-24, up 42% from 2022-23, from a harvested area of 130,000 hectares, an increase of 30%.

Based in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, the AfDB’s is a regional multilateral development finance institution whose mission is to help reduce poverty, improve living conditions for Africans and mobilize resources for the continent’s economic and social development.

Tags: wheat, Nigeria, African Development Bank, Production