Policy summersault hinders wheat productivity in Nigeria, says LCRI former ED

The Lake Chad Research Institute (LCRI) former Executive Director ( ED) Dr. Oluwasina Olabanji has attributed a decline in wheat productivity to policy summersaults on the part of government in Nigeria.

Olabanji said this at the just concluded wheat conference held in Abuja last week, saying Nigeria would have surpassed the present productivity level if not for policies inconsistency on the part of government since over a decade.

The former ED said that Nigeria’s major challenge has been policy inconsistency in wheat production as he recalled in 2012 to 2016 when Nigeria’s wheat output increased from 70,000 metric tons to 450,000 metric tons. 

"If we had maintained that momentum, we could have achieved 50% self-sufficiency in wheat production by now " Olabanji noted.

 Unfortunately, he explained that policy changes brought by new subsequent governments have overruled the Agricultural Transformation Agenda, and the de-prioritization of wheat value chains.

Dr. Olabanji stressed the need for increased private sector investment in wheat production, noting that some companies are already stepping in as there is need for government' s support.

"The government must create an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive in wheat production," he said, underscoring the importance of collaboration between public and private entities.

He also urged for more government investment in research and development, pointing to the fact that many successful agricultural countries enjoyed heavy government funding and support.

Olabanji acknowledged improvements under the current administration, especially with the recent 2023/2024 dry season wheat farming, he noted that more must be done to meet Nigeria’s wheat production targets. The government had projected cultivating 270,000 hectares, but the actual area cultivated fell short. 

However, he is optimistic that the upcoming 2024/2025 season will meet the target of 250,000 hectares adding that  Nigeria can potentially harvest 700,000 metric tons of wheat with proactive political will.

Olabanji shared insights into how his team had developed wheat in collaboration with LCRI and Flour Mills of Nigeria saying that "We didn’t wait for government to achieve 16th producing state"