Miller Magazine Issue: 156 December 2022

87 MILLER / DECEMBER 2022 COUNTRY PROFILE The disruption of the global wheat supply chain and local production challenges pressed the Nigerian public and private stakehold- ers to seek alternative wheat sources. Nige- ria wheat millers have diversified their wheat sourcing so that they are not limited to spe- cific countries. USDA estimates wheat imports for 2022/23 season at 6 million metric ton. Nigeria is the economic powerhouse of Africa. As the largest economy of the continent at US$ 440,777 in 2021 and the most populous country at 211 million, the potential of its markets, human capital and natural resources is enormous. Nigeria has the world’s 10th largest proven oil reserves and 9th largest proven gas reserves, large seaports connected to global trade routes, vast and underutilized agricultural land, a large popu- lation and a growing middle class. It is geographically well-placed as the economic hub for West Africa. Despite falling into recession in 2020 caused by the Covid-19 pandemic an associated decline in oil prices and spikes in risk aversion in global capital markets, Nigeria remains Africa’s largest economy. Following the pandemic-induced recession in 2020, Nigeria’s economic growth recovered but macroeconomic stability weak- ened. Amidst global commodity shocks, a depreciating currency, trade restrictions, and monetization of the deficit, inflation is surg- ing and pushing millions of Nigerians into poverty. Since 2021, Ni- geria is also unable to benefit from the surging global oil prices, as oil production has fallen to historic lows and petrol subsidy con- tinues to consume a larger share of the gross oil revenues. While the economy is projected to grow at an average of 3.2% in 2022- 2024, the growth outlook is subject to downside risks including further declines in oil production and heightened insecurity. According to the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), Nigeria has 70.8 million hectares of agricultural land. In 2021, ag- riculture contributed more than 22 percent of the Gross Domes- tic Product (GDP). The World Bank suggests that agriculture is perhaps the country’s most prosperous sector. It is definitely the largest employer, contributing to more than 24 million livelihoods. More than 70 percent of Nigerians engage in the agricultural sec- tor, but many of them at a ‘subsistence’ level. More than 80 percent of Nigeria’s farmers are smallholders. They grow some 85 percent of domestic production. Nigeria Grain Outlook