The export potential of Nigeria for different commodities is, increasingly, topical as many people seek to find ways in participating at an international market where, apart from available off-takers, dollar is also a good motivation.
However, while some commodities produced in Nigeria are said to be in high demand, the reality is that local demand has hardly been met, making export appear unrealistic. This is especially so in the case of a commodity like Soybean which China supposedly requires in large quantity from Nigeria.
“There is a small quarrel between the United States and China, soybeans and sorghum are part of items in dispute. The Chinese have a preference for the hybrid soybean from Nigeria, and will like us to sell to them two million tonnes of soybean per annum. That is quite a place to do some business,” said Audu Ogbeh, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, at BusinessDay’s Agribusiness and Food Security Summit this year.
But then, the Agriculture Promotion Policy document shows that Nigeria produces only 600,000 metric tonnes, with local demand of 750,000. The crop is important as an Animal feed and alternative source of protein which determines demand for it annually. Already, there is 150,000 tonne deficit, making it hard to imagine how China’s 2million metric tonne demand can then be met.
Hamza Ahmed Mahuta, a former key accounts manager at Syngenta, currently working as an agriculture consultant, says he has cultivated Soybean for the last 10 years, and explained that it is not a high yielding crop. And, even less of it is grown since it is not a staple food.
“If you produce it as a small farmer, you may be forced to sell it at harvest and probably get nothing. Only people that have capacity to produce and keep for some time may benefit from it. It is a very low yielding crop, to the best of my knowledge.
“I have been cultivating soybean for more than ten years now, and I am yet to get the variety that gives up to a tonne per hectare. Most of these seed companies may say it will give up to 2.5 tonnes per hectare but honestly I have not seen that yet.”
The demand for soybean will however continue to increase and according to Olam Grains, a subsidiary of one of Nigeria’s leading agriculture companies, demand could reach 3.5 million metric tonnes by 2040.
Through a systematic field research, Olam has identified the availability of good-quality, high-yielding seeds as a major catalyst for boosting farmer’ earning, thereby generating interest among more farmers to grow soybeans. The company has also partnered the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), to promote the commercialisation of its tropicalised soybean varieties, suitable for the different agro-climate conditions for various parts of Nigeria.
But then, this effort alone is not sufficient. There is a need for more research bodies to discover ways to improve farm productivity in the country. There are at least 20 agricultural research institutes in the country; even though not all focus on seeds, but then, valuable inputs from all these institutes could go a long way in making it more feasible for Nigeria to take advantage of the export market.
More so, with 157 seed companies currently licensed to operate in Nigeria, there should be more efforts being put into development of hybrid, quality seeds to meet the country’s agricultural needs.
As noted by Philip Ojo, director general of the National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC), “indigenous seed companies (which currently dominate the industry) need to enhance their human, technical and infrastructural capacities to enable them produce quality seeds which will win the heart of farmers. They also need to step up their financial base so that they will have enough capital to buy back their quality seeds from contract growers, who most time can sell grains as seeds to the highest bidders after harvest, if companies are not coming to buy on time.”
When this rapid development in capacity happens, Nigeria’s local demand for Soybean (just like other commodities) will not only be met, but the country will as well be able to trade with China and other countries which require our agricultural products.
CALEB OJEWALE
