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The National President of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) and President of the Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NABG), Architect Kabir Ibrahim, has disclosed that Nigeria suffered a loss of 13,000 tonnes of heat-resistant wheat seeds imported from Mexico due to inadequate storage.
The grains were imported in 2021 by the former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, under the CBN's interventions in line with the Anchor Borrower’s Programme (ABP) of the then Federal Government. Before the wheat seeds could be distributed to farmers, it was discovered that a significant portion had gone bad.
Ibrahim criticized the ex-CBN governor for not involving the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in the distribution of the wheat seeds to farmers for planting.
Ibrahim further explained that a more recent importation of about 7,000 tonnes of wheat seeds was successfully distributed to farmers under the NAGS-AP program, which is supported by the African Development Bank (AfDB).
This recent distribution has been positively received by farmers, with some already harvesting from the wheat seeds in Jigawa state.
