The Federal Government has launched a programme to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported wheat and address rising production costs in the bread and other wheat-based food industries.
The initiative, Project WHEAT-NESS, comes as Nigeria’s wheat imports are estimated at 5.6 million metric tonnes for the 2026/2027 marketing year, compared with domestic production of about 120,000 metric tonnes.
The programme was unveiled in Abuja on Tuesday, with government officials identifying low local output, underused milling capacity, expensive financing and high energy and logistics costs as major constraints to the industry.
The Special Adviser to the President on Industry, Trade and Investment, John Uwajumogu, said dependence on imported wheat exposed Nigerian businesses and consumers to global price fluctuations, exchange-rate movements and supply chain disruptions.
He cited the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022 as examples of international events that drove up wheat prices and increased food costs for Nigerian households.
Uwajumogu said the initiative would bring together government agencies, farmers, millers, food manufacturers, financial institutions and distributors to tackle challenges across the wheat value chain.
Nigeria’s wheat milling capacity is estimated at eight million metric tonnes annually, but the Minister of State for Industry, John Owan Enoh, said mills were operating at roughly half their capacity.
He said the government would adopt an integrated approach covering local farming, industrial processing, financing and distribution to improve efficiency and make wheat-based foods more affordable.
Enoh also highlighted the importance of small businesses, noting that nearly three out of every four loaves of bread consumed in Nigeria were produced by artisanal and regional bakeries.
He said interventions would be guided by measurable targets and transparent reporting rather than isolated measures that failed to address the industry's wider challenges.
In remarks delivered on behalf of the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, the Director of Economic Research and Policy Management at the Federal Ministry of Finance, Abubakar Musa Othman, said wheat-based products such as bread, noodles, pasta, biscuits and pastries had significant implications for household spending, manufacturing costs, employment and foreign exchange demand.
The remarks cited Nigeria’s real gross domestic product growth of 4.43 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, while manufacturing grew by 3.24 per cent.
The government, however, cautioned against reducing imports without first developing a reliable domestic supply of wheat capable of meeting industrial demand.
It identified improved seeds, irrigation, mechanisation, agricultural research, extension services and access to finance as essential to increasing local production.
Enoh said Nigeria had between two million and 3.5 million hectares with potential for irrigated wheat production, adding that better varieties, planting schedules, crop nutrition and water management could significantly improve yields.
The government also plans to work with development finance institutions to improve access to seasonal credit for farmers and working capital for millers and food manufacturers.
Uwajumogu said the programme would monitor domestic wheat output, the cost of a standard loaf of bread and jobs created during implementation.
The Finance Ministry also called for targets covering local production, yields, import volumes, industrial demand met by domestic supplies, production and distribution costs, private investment and food affordability.
The government said the objective was to build a competitive domestic wheat industry capable of meeting manufacturers’ needs while reducing exposure to international market shocks.
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