Themed “Deepening the wheat farming development programme in
Nigeria through innovation, increasing investments and collaborations”, the
event is part of an engagement series organised by the agribusiness firm to
deepen insights into the various challenges hampering the development of the
domestic wheat value chain, while stimulating private and public sector actions
to proffer solutions to the various challenges.
Amongst the speakers that spearheaded the domestic wheat
production development discourse were Dr Filippo Maria Bassi, a senior
scientist at the International Centre for the Agricultural Research in the Dry
Areas, Morocco; Alhaji Dan Agundi, the Chairman, House of Representatives
Committee on Agricultural College and Institution, and Sarah Hubber, Head,
Wheat Development Programme, Flour Millers Association of Nigeria (FMAN).
Alhaji Salim Saleh Muhammad, National President of the Wheat
Farmers Association of Nigeria (WFAN) and Mr Kachalla Kyari Mala, a
professional Wheat Breeder and the Principal Research Officer at the Lake Chad
Research Institute (LCRI), Maiduguri and Zubairu Abdullahi, Director of
Planning and Policy Coordination, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development, amongst others, also lent their voices to the discussion.
Speaking on the rationale for the Olam Green Land Webinar
Series, Ashish Pande, the Managing Director of Crown Flour Mill Limited, a
subsidiary of the Olam Group, said it was geared towards exploring the key
drivers of growth in the domestic wheat value chain. He added that the
discourse was also aimed at tackling the various hurdles to wheat production
sufficiency in Nigeria.
Dr Filippo Bassi, the keynote speaker explained that Nigeria
needs to start the pursuit of progress along the wheat value chain by defining
the ideal seed variety for each region and what seed maturity, yield,
irrigation, and milling-quality level will be required to achieve national
wheat supply sufficiency.
According to Dr Bassi, “Once that is done, it will be easier
to work with the various partners to deliver the “perfect” variety”.
Sarah Hubber, Head of Flour Milling Association, Wheat
Development Programme and Alhaji Dan Agundi, the Chairman of the House of
Representative Committee on Agricultural College and Institution both said that
the Federal Ministry of Agriculture needs to set up an innovative platform.
This, they said will serve as a forum to engage stakeholders
from the wheat value chain and dissect the major challenges undermining improved
wheat production on a quarterly or monthly basis.
In summary, the various panellists at the confab reechoed
the insights shared by Dr Filippo Bassi, Sarah Hubber, and Alhaji Dan Agundi.
They unanimously called for actions to be expedited to
tackle the challenges of wheat production shortage and design plans to reduce
the wheat import bill.
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