• John Enoh tackles supply gaps, high production costs, idle industrial capacity, stimulate economy
•Declares domestic mills operating at half capacity, puts annual consumption at 6 million tonnes
James Emejo in Abuja
Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owan Enoh, yesterday launched a coordinated initiative to reduce production costs, improve industrial capacity utilisation, strengthen domestic wheat supply, and expand business opportunities across wheat-based foods industry.
The move aimed to improve food affordability and stimulate economic activity.
The programme, Project WHEAT-NESS, is designed to address structural constraints spanning agricultural production, industrial processing, distribution, and access to finance that have weakened the competitiveness of local businesses and increased pressure on consumers of bread, noodles, pasta, biscuits and other wheat-based staples.
Speaking at the unveiling of the initiative in Abuja, Enoh said the country’s wheat mills were operating at half their production capacity, despite the country’s annual consumption of about six million metric tonnes of wheat.
He said the gap between the country’s industrial processing capacity and the supply of locally grown wheat reaching factories at the required quality, volume and price represented a major constraint to the development of the sector.
Enoh stated that the initiative sought to connect farmers, millers, food manufacturers, bakers, financiers, and relevant government institutions within a common framework to tackle the bottlenecks, improve enterprise productivity, and strengthen the domestic value chain.
The minister pointed out that government was pursuing an integrated approach because the pressures affecting the industry could not be resolved through isolated interventions targeting individual segments of the value chain.
He identified global grain market pressures, energy costs, transportation expenses and the slow integration of domestic wheat production into industrial supply systems as constraints weighing on the industry.
Addressing Supply, Production and Financing Constraints
Nigeria’s large wheat market presents opportunities for agricultural producers and food manufacturers, but inadequate domestic supply has limited the extent to which local production can meet industrial demand.
Enoh said technical assessments indicated that the country had between two million and 3.5 million hectares with potential for irrigated wheat cultivation.
He added that farm yields could be doubled through improved seed varieties, better planting schedules, crop nutrition, and water management.
Expanding production, however, will require more than increasing cultivated land and harvest volumes. Domestic wheat must also meet processors’ requirements for quality, price and reliable delivery if local sourcing is to become commercially viable on a larger scale.
However, project WHEAT-NESS is expected to bring agricultural producers and industrial users into closer alignment, helping to identify the practical and commercial obstacles preventing more locally grown wheat from reaching mills.
The government also hopes to improve the utilisation of existing processing facilities, which could allow companies to spread operating costs across higher production volumes and strengthen their competitiveness.
Enoh emphasised the need to design financial products that reflected the different operating requirements of participants, including seasonal funding for farmers, appropriate financing for processors, and accessible credit for smaller businesses.
Consumer Affordability Remains the Ultimate Test
Meanwhile, the economic case for the initiative rests on whether improved production and processing efficiency can help ease the cost pressures ultimately borne by households.
The minister stressed that industrial competitiveness and consumer affordability should not be treated as competing objectives, maintaining that more efficient businesses could become stronger market participants while helping to reduce the burden of production costs on consumers.
He stressed that the programme must move beyond the launch stage and demonstrate tangible results over time.
Enoh called for measurable targets, clear responsibilities, and transparent reporting to ensure that implementation could be assessed against its stated objectives.
The programme will focus on five interconnected areas: upstream supply, industrial processing, downstream enterprise, consumer markets, and the financing and policy environment supporting the value chain.
According to the minister, the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment is expected to concentrate on industrial cost structures, enterprise capabilities, market efficiency, and investment conditions, working with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security on domestic production and with private-sector operators on implementation.
Enoh said industry participants would be expected to provide evidence of the constraints affecting their operations and identify the changes required to expand local sourcing, improve capacity utilisation, and grow their businesses.
Working sessions involving government, industry, and financial institutions were also planned to establish priorities and identify practical measures for releasing constraints across the value chain.
Enoh said the programme’s performance would ultimately be judged by the strength of enterprises, productive use of industrial capacity, and livelihoods created, alongside its impact on the affordability of wheat-based foods for Nigerian consumers.