The equipment is valued at N70 million ($194,444). Members of FMAN include Flour Mills of Nigeria PLC, Honeywell Flour, Dufil and Life Flour.
During the presentation ceremony, Paul Gbededo, group managing director of Flour Mills of Nigeria, said it was a demonstration of the association’s support of wheat farmers and the government’s Agriculture Promotion Policy.
“There is no gainsaying that self-sufficiency in the production of wheat in Nigeria will have an unprecedented impact on the Nigerian economy through the attainment of food security, poverty reduction and of course, save much needed foreign exchange,” he said.
An agreement was signed with Wheat Farmers Association of Nigeria in 2016 to purchase all available wheat grain produced by farmers in line with agreed quality parameters and prevailing market prices.
“In 2017, FMAN fulfilled its promise by purchasing over 2,400 tonnes of wheat valued at N469 million,” Gbededo said. “In 2018, even before the start of harvest, we have purchased over 1,600 tonnes of wheat valued at N237 million.”
FMAN also has established a N20 million Research and Development Grant to the Lake Chad Research Institute to conduct research into enhanced wheat farming technology and modern agronomy practices aimed at improving wheat varieties with good yield.
Gbededo said that the association would continue to invest effort and resources on initiatives that would improve local supply chain.
