Azambu village in Jigawa State, North-West Nigeria came alive on the 16^th of March 2023 as the sleepy village played host to a coterie of stakeholders who are committed to stirring a wheat revolution in Nigeria.

Azambu in Mallam Maidori village is the host of this year’s Brown-wheat field day in Jigawa state.

The Brown-wheat Field Day is an event that brings together wheat farmers, research scientists, policy makers, development partners and other stakeholders to interact and appraise new and improved technologies for adoption and to showcase the potential of wheat production in Nigeria.

This year’s event was organised jointly by Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT), the Flour Milling Association of Nigeria (FMAN) the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) and the Lake Chad Research Institute (LCRI).

With participants drawn from a wide spectrum of Nigerian society, including Government officials, lawmakers, farmers, seed entrepreneurs, researchers and development experts and traditional rulers, the Brown-wheat Field Day provided an opportunity to build the capacity of wheat farmers and extension agents on pre and post-harvest handling for good quality wheat and to pledge the support of all stakeholders across the wheat value chain to achieve wheat self-sufficiency for National food security.

Speaking at the event, Dr Chrys Akem, the TAAT Programme Coordinator confirmed that TAAT represents the African Development Bank’s second effort at revolutionising wheat production in Nigeria. “What we are trying to push today as the wheat revolution in Nigeria began when we implemented the Support to Agricultural Research for Development of Strategic Crops in Africa Project (SARD-SC) in 2014,” he said.

The project facilitated the release of three wheat varieties that TAAT and partners are now promoting, and we look forward to working with more partners to make the wheat revolution possible in Nigeria, just as we have achieved in Sudan and Ethiopia,” DR Akem added.

Dr Solomon Gizaw, Head of the TAAT Clearinghouse commended the farmers and the partners for making the Brown-wheat field day possible and reiterated TAAT’s focal commitment to pushing Nigeria to self-sufficiency in wheat. “What we are witnessing here today proves that with the right seed, the right support, enabling environment, and political will, Nigeria can leapfrog other wheat-producing countries and become self-sufficient with the capacity to feed Africa,” Dr Gizaw said.

. Mr. Aliyu Samaila, FMAN’s Programme Manager disclosed that Association’s investment in manpower development and technology in wheat production in seven Nigerian states had yielded 3.2 tonnes per hectare and is an indication of Nigeria’s bright future in wheat production.

The Chairman of Nigeria’s Federal House of Representatives Committee on Agricultural Institutions, Hon. Munir Babba Dan-Agundi, called for more technical and financial support for farmers and seed producers to achieve the goal of revolutionising wheat production in Nigeria as the commendable intervention by TAAT and partners is pushing Nigeria towards a wheat revolution.

From 2014 till date, several initiatives to expand local wheat production, empower farmers and significantly contribute to the nation’s goal of achieving self-sufficiency and improving food security have been rolled out. These include out-grower programme empowers Nigerian wheat farmers by giving them access to agricultural input (agro-chemicals and quality certified seeds) as a loan for payback with the grains harvested from the farmer’s farm; demonstrations and farmer field schools deployment of appropriate technology adapted to local conditions with predictable outcomes based on a foundation in research to help farmers determine how new variety, products or cropping practices compare to standard practices on their farms; and seed production engagements with certified seed producers to ensure seed sufficiency for the Nigerian farmer for future seasons.

Others include research and development, establishing a 10-hectare farm in Jigawa state dedicated to testing new seed varieties and improved agronomic practices, extensive collaboration with Lake Chad Research Institute, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA).

So far, the partnership approach to revolutionising wheat production in Nigeria has recorded the cultivation of 114-hectare demonstration farms across the 6 northern states (Adamawa, Borno, Gombe, Plateau, Taraba and Yobe) to provide training on Good Agronomic Practices; expansion of direct out-grower programme with input loans to cover 4,300 farmers across 3,900 hectares in 7 states (Kano, Jigawa, Sokoto, Kebbi, Kaduna, Bauchi and Zamfara); and the expansion of seed production with 6 certified seed companies, including both dry and wet season seed production, to produce sufficient seeds for 10,000 hectares next season.

Other notable highlights include securing a grant funding for National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC) to expand their capacity to test seed quality, certify seed production and train farmers to differentiate high-quality seed from others in the market and a data management application for proper data collection and management of field activities in partnership with SourceTrace.