The price of durum wheat has risen by 50% since the beginning of 2022 and its import has fallen by 16.09%.
This is due to the global wheat shortage caused by Russia-Ukraine and the nation’s lack of foreign exchange.
speaking to the punchNational Public Relations Officer, Nigerian National Association of Wheat Farmers, Processors and Traders, Tola Ogunnubi, said: “Before the war it was selling at N27,000 to N28,000 per 100kg, it is N41,000 a N42,000 now.”
The import of durum wheat to Nigeria plummeted 16.09% yoy in the first nine months of 2022. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the total import of durum wheat to Nigeria was 753.59 billion naira in the first nine months of 2022. nine months. three quarters of 2022, a drop of N144.59bn from N898.19bn in the corresponding period of 2021.
According to the NBS, durum wheat is Nigeria’s top agricultural import. It read: “The main agricultural products imported in the first quarter of 2022, including durum wheat (not in seeds), were from the United States with N71.56bn and Argentina with N59.04bn.
“The main agricultural products imported in the second quarter of 2022 included ‘durum wheat (not in seeds)’ from the United States of America with N70.67bn and Lithuania with N60.87bn. The main agricultural products imported in the third quarter of 2022 included ‘durum wheat (not in seeds)’ from the United States of America with N78.29bn and Poland with N45.62bn.”
Wheat, which serves as flour, is essential in the production of pasta, bread, noodles, and other foods. The drop in imported wheat, on which the nation is heavily dependent, has translated into higher prices for most of these foods.
Ogunnubi said: “The import of wheat is declining, but that does not mean that we have achieved wheat sufficiency as such. We have wheat that still holds the third position in terms of commodities that gobble up the highest exchange rate. It is after refined petroleum products and gas.
“Wheat is still third highest and we are looking at a situation where we have enough wheat just as we have had rice. We hope that the government will encourage the cultivation and production of wheat. We are imploring the government to enter the entire value chain of wheat production. From plantation processing, distribution, all along the entire value chain.”
“Wheat is fast becoming a staple food. If people don’t eat corn, they eat bread, flour, spaghetti, which are some of the by-products of wheat. So why aren’t they enough.
“The crisis in Russia and Ukraine is affecting imports, but that does not mean that there are no other markets for imports. The durum wheat that we usually process in Nigeria can be sourced from Mexico. It’s not that people aren’t looking in that direction, but the CBN isn’t giving out hard currency. The CBN is not giving foreign currency to import wheat”.
According to him, at the beginning of the year, a loaf of bread in Abuja that was between N350 and N400 is now N800.