World news – African Union – Nigeria’s grain production falls as dependence on imports increases

LAGOS, NIGERIA â €? Nigeria will continue to rely on grain imports for food security as the country faces challenges with coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions, currency devaluation and climate change, according to the Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) report from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).. ).

Domestic wheat production is expected to decline by 8% to 55,000 tons in the 2020-21 marketing year. In Nigeria, farmers do not live in wheat farms and usually sow wheat in November and harvest in April.

The US Department of Agriculture said the COVID-19 lockdown across Nigeria that began on March 30, 2020, has restricted access to wheat farms, leading to higher post-harvest losses.. .

Total wheat imports are expected to reach 4. 9 million tons in the 2020-21 marketing year. The US Department of Agriculture has indicated that the Nigerian government restrictions on wheat continue to increase the cost of flour, increase food prices, and reduce consumption of bread and products based on wheat flour.. .

COVID-19 lockdown measures have also hindered Nigeria’s corn production productivity. The U.S. Department of Agriculture expects 2020-21 corn production in the country to decline 13% to 9 million tons. Goods imports are expected to jump to 500,000 tons, and low supply, devaluation and flooding events are expected to put pressure on the government to import more during the 2020-21 marketing year..

According to Nigerian poultry industry, it needs to import 5. 6 million tons of corn to meet the demand for feed in the 2020-21 marketing year. The USDA said Nigeria is being challenged by a lack of storage capacity and an import suspension that was put in place in July 2020. The current USDA corn import forecast is based on approved import volumes.

Total rice production is expected to be 7. 8 million tons in the 2020-21 marketing year, down 3% compared to the previous year. COVID-19 measures have imposed restrictions on access to rice plantations during the planting period from March to April. Nigeria’s rice exports are expected to increase slightly for the 2020-21 marketing year to 1. 75 million tons compared to 1. 2 million tons were exported in 2019-20.

Cereals, Wheat, China, Soybeans and Futures