The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) and the African Development Bank (ADB) have announced their intention to revolutionize the channel of wheat value in Nigeria by replicating the feat achieved in the country's rice value chain.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Mohammad Abubakar, made this known during a stakeholder validation workshop for the national wheat strategy document ( NWSD) in Abuja. Abubakar said the NWSD was developed to increase production, income, and the competitiveness of local production for smallholder farmers in the wheat subsector.

The minister stressed that Nigeria had no choice but to increase its domestic wheat production to meet the country's demand following the multiplier effects of COVID-19 and the current Russo-Ukrainian war, which have significantly affected the supply of wheat on the international market. He stressed that the federal government remained committed to the development of wheat production due to the country's annual needs of 5.7 million metric tons while its national production is currently 420,000 metric tons.