China Now Demanding For Nigeria’s Sorghum, Soyabeans – Audu Ogbeh

Since the imposition of temporary US imports by the Chinese government, Chinese merchants of grains like sorghum and soyabeans are presently requesting for Nigeria’s sorghum and soyabeans importations. While highlighting the opportunities in Nigeria’s agricultural sector during the recent BusinessDay’s Agribusiness conference held in Lagos, Audu Ogbeh, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development said that the China’s government is now making a demand for Nigeria’s soyabeans and sorghum.
“As a result of the trade war between the US/China, the Chinese are requesting for 2,000 tons of soybeans and sorghum,” Ogbeh said.

Nigeria is a natural habitat for many varieties of sorghum and the world’s second largest producer and supplier of the crop, churning out 11 million metric tons per annum while demand is put at 12.5 million MT, leaving a gap of 1.5 million MT, according to data obtained from the Federal Ministry Agriculture.

Similarly, Nigeria is the largest producer of soyabeans in sub-Saharan Africa with a production of 750,000 metric tons per annum. The crop is said to have the potentials of being a huge export earner for the country, but years of low investment, lack of government support and natural vagaries has limited these huge potentials.

“This will open up opportunities for our export to China because the major export to China from the US are agricultural commodities,” Muda Yusuf, Director General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) said in a telephone response to Business Day questions.

“Since China is now taking a retaliation action in terms of trade against the US, it is likely to affect more of agricultural export from US to China. This would create a gap in the Chinese market for agricultural imports, and this will create opportunities for a country like Nigeria to take advantage to fill the gap that is being created. Sorghum, an important cereal crop is also fast booming in the Nigerian market as brewers in the country are now using a larger percentage of the crop in place of barley for brewing beer and malt drinks. As a result, brewers are making huge investment in sorghum plants in the country owing to their hunt for local substitutes.

Also, Nigeria’s soybeans production has been on the rise owing to huge investments in the production of the crop, as it serves as the richest and cheapest means of protein for humans as well as for animals in the country. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that a total of N14.2 billion worth of soybeans was exported in 2017.

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