Nigeria grain production fluctuates – FAO …expert gives reasons

Arecently released quarterly report on crop prospects and food situation of the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) reveals that there has been a drop in the total coarse grains produced in the country.

Nigeria, which produced 19.1 million tonnes of coarse grains in 2015, dropped to 18.9 million tonnes in 2016; the production slightly picked up to 19 million tonnes in 2017.

However, rice production, Nigeria witnessed a consistent rise from 4.8 million tonnes in 2015, to 5 million tonnes in 2016 and consequently 5.4 million tonnes in 2017.

According to the report, the country’s overall cereals production (including wheat, rice and coarse grains) which was 23.9 million tonnes each for both 2015 and 2016 increased considerably to 24.4 million tonnes in 2017.

In another vein, the report showed that Nigeria’s total cereals stock based on aggregate of carryovers at the end of national crop years has been fluctuating from 2013 to 2018.

Based on official and nonofficial estimates of the FAO, Nigeria’s cereal stock in 2013 was 2.8 million tonnes, which nosedived to 1.3 million tonnes in 2014.

For the years 2015 and 2016, the country’s cereal stock increased to 2.9 million tonnes each while the stock slightly decreased to 2.7 million tonnes in 2017, going further down to 2.1 million tonnes in 2018.

In the same report Nigeria, which was categorised under the low income food deficit for countries, had commercial purchases (and/or imports) of cereals of 7,250,000 tonnes between January and December 2016 marketing year, while the country’s estimated total import requirement for 2017 was 7,360,000 tonnes.

There was no data available for Nigeria on the estimated cereal import requirements for 2017/2018 marketing year.

Reacting to this development, an agric expert, Dr Innocent Okuku, confirmed that farmers generally tended to migrate from the production of crops that bring higher income from sales, which explains why there was a decline in production of some crops.

Dr Okuku reaffirmed that Nigeria was a low income country judging from the N18,000 being paid to workers as minimum wage which was around 50USD to 60USD per month.

He explained further that the amount translated to just about 1.5USD per day thus categorising the receiver as a low income person. This, he said, was in addition to high level of youth unemployment in the country.

Dr Okuku noted that the fraction that have a reasonable income or earning of about 20USD to 30USD per day make up the smaller percentage of the country’s population.

On Nigeria falling under the food deficit countries classification, he also asserted that Nigeria was a food deficit country because there is higher importation of food than export.

Okuku stated that although Nigeria was gradually growing its food production, in addition to efforts by the present administration to boost especially rice production, the shift in lifestyle and nutritional pattern among Nigerians and deficit between consumption and supply means Nigeria’s food production is still lagging behind.

He noted that many industries still import the raw materials they need to carry out production activities, citing example with the confectionary industry which, he said, majorly imported wheat they use for production.

The expert explained that small-holder farmers tend to shift to cultivation of crops that receive greater public attention and government support and financing at the detriment of other cereal crops traditionally produced by them.

He proclaimed that more land has been put to rice production which was why there was a shortfall in production of the other cereal crops, adding that sorghum and millet cultivation was done mostly at subsistence level and only the excess gets to the markets.

He held that the only way Nigeria could get out of the situation was to become a net exporter of food by developing power and infrastructures. This way, he said, the country can adequately compete at international markets and generate the foreign exchange necessary for growth and development of its agricultural sector and the country at large.