MON 11 OCT, 2021-theGBJournal- For Nigeria to be the leader in maize production in Africa, governments, maize producer/user associations and other relevant stakeholders across the maize value chain must recognize the importance of maize in industrial production, household nutrient needs and generation of export earnings, says PwC in their latest report, Positioning Nigeria as Africa’s leader in Maize production for AfCFTA.
The report highlights the current production levels and low export rates of maize in Nigeria, and suggests initiatives that will help maize farmers bridge the gap between regional competition and optimise the opportunities presented to them by AfCFTA.
In Nigeria specifically, some of these initiatives include:
1- The review of tariff and non-tariff barriers on maize. At the core of the AfCFTA is the need to dismantle existing tariff and non-tariff barriers amongst member-states. Therefore, Nigeria should begin to review its export ban on maize and provide targeted support to maize farmers to boost yield and expand production to meet domestic need and subsequently, seize the opportunity to supply to other markets across Africa and beyond
2-The use of high-yield, disease-resistant maize seed varieties, and encouraging aggregation and backward/forward integration.
3- Promote mechanised maize production
4- Strengthen value-chain linkages for maize-based products
5- Scale the power of commodity exchanges such as AFEX, NCX, others
6- Aggregation and backward/forward integration. PwC says . These backward/forward integration initiatives could be done in such a way as to promote inclusiveness of smallholder farmers through aggregation.
7- Support agricultural research and development (R&D)
8- Take steps to derisk maize farming. Maize farming is a risky venture in Nigeria considering the market dynamics, inadequate financing, changing climatic conditions, incidences of soil mismanagement, occasional outbreak of pest and diseases, widespread insecurities in maize farming zones etc.
To reap maximum gain requires derisking maize production across the different segmentations of the value chain – pre-upstream, upstream, mid-stream and downstream.
One of the foremost agricultural derisking platform in Nigeria is NIRSAL. By aggregating smallholder maize farmers into an Agro Geo-Cooperatives in Agricultural Commodities Ecological Areas that is less risky to maize farming, NIRSAL has been able to derisk and attract funding guarantee recovery for maize farming in Nigeria.
Maize is one of the most widely planted cereals in the world. Global production of maize has averaged over 1,000 million metric tonnes (MMT) over the past decades.
With total production of 11 MMT, Nigeria is arguably Africa’s second largest producer of maize after South Africa. Ethiopia occupied the third-place position on the chart of largest producers of maize in Africa. Together, the three countries (i.e., South Africa, Nigeria and Ethiopia) accounted for about 39% of the continent’s total maize output in 2019.
In Nigeria, the top ten maize producing states (Borno, Niger, Plateau, Katsina, Gombe, Bauchi, Kogi, Kaduna, Oyo and Taraba) accounts for nearly two-third (64%) of maize produced in the country.
About 45.5% of maize produced in Nigeria are used to manufacture animal feeds (e.g., poultry feeds) and nearly 98% of all animal feeds produced in Nigeria are used by poultry farmers. Maize accounts for 60 – 65% of poultry feeds constituents. Meanwhile, 6.5% of maize produced in Nigeria is used by brewing companies while 13% is used for the manufacturing of industrial flours, corn flakes and other confectionaries. The share of household consumption of maize however stands at 10-15%.
While Nigeria is the second largest maize producer in Africa, the country’s export capacity for the agricultural product is abysmally low when compared to peers like South Africa which account for nearly two-third of maize export in the continent.
The relatively low maize export in Nigeria is primarily due to several factors including poor maize yield and existence of an official ban on export.
Maize yield in Nigeria stands at less than two tonnes per hectare (t/ha) relative to 4.9 t/ha and 4.2 t/ha in South Africa and Ethiopia respectively. This is due to continued usage of open pollinated variety (OPV) rather than improved hybrid seeds by the country’s maize farmers. As a result, production is low and could barely satisfy the huge maize demand estimated at 12 – 15 MMT thereby creating a maize supply gap of nearly 4 MMT per annum. The supply gap necessitated the promulgation of the export ban on maize.
According to PwC, the current maize production level in Nigeria, as well as the near zero export of the produce from the country, puts Nigeria in an unfavourable position to compete in the implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
‘’It is critical that the country adopts policies that would address challenges faced by maize farmers and put structures in place to explore and optimize the opportunities presented by AfCFTA,’’ PwC said.
The multinational professional services firm highlighted some of these initiatives which it says could include review of tariff and non-tariff barriers on maize, promote the use of high-yield, diseaseresistant maize seed varieties, support agricultural research and development, encourage aggregation and backward/forward integration, scale the power of commodity exchanges such as AFEX and NCX, strengthen value linkages for maize-based products, promote agricultural mechanization among others.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s annual maize demand for human consumption and animal feed production ranges from 12–15 MMT. This puts Nigeria’s maize production versus demand gap at roughly between 2–4 MMT per annum.
‘’Closing this gap requires concerted efforts by players across the value chain. At the core of this effort is the need to accelerate awareness and widespread use of improved, disease-resistant maize seed varieties that can resist striga and fall armyworm infestation thereby boosting yield.’’
According to IITA, Nigeria can close her maize production versus demand gap by increasing the number of farmers that uses hybrid variety seed from the current 10% to about 50% – 100%. All things being equal, this singular act can double the country’s maize yield from the current ~2 tonnes/hectare to over 4 tonnes/hectare thereby causing annual production to increase to about 20 million metric tonnes.
The PwC report also highlighted the challenges bedevilling maize farming in the country as well as the impact of the official ban of maize on the volume and value of maize export by Nigeria which as it notes, ‘’underscores the country’s not too impressive participation in the international trade for maize.’’
The numerous challenges include Inadequate capital, hampered by inadequate financing especially from deposit money banks, Poor agronomic practices, Use of poor maize seed variety, Insecurity in key maize production belts, Climatic changes and Inadequate storage and distribution facilities- Nearly 30% of maize produced in Nigeria are wasted due to inadequate storage facilities. Achieving significant gain in maize production in Nigeria will require sustainable investment in maize storage and distribution value chain
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