The National Bureau of Statistics has revealed that Nigeria imported durum wheat for N753.6 billion in the first nine months of 2022.
According to the figures, this is a 16.1% decrease from the N898.2 billion in durum wheat imports during the same time in 2021.
The fall in Nigerian wheat imports may be ascribed to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine since February 2022, as these two nations account for the majority of Nigeria’s wheat imports.
After rice and maize, wheat is the third most popular grain consumed in Nigeria. Only about 1% (63,000 metric tons) of the 5–6 million metric tons of the product consumed annually in Nigeria is thought to be produced by the nation.
The annual cost of importing wheat is above $2 billion, which significantly reduces the massive demand-supply mismatch. Due to this, wheat is now the second largest food importer in the nation.
