Africa Expends $15billion on Wheat Imports Annually

Africa spends over $15 billion on wheat importa­tion yearly, owing to the fact that its various component countries cannot produce enough to meet domestic consumption demands.
Stakeholders who met at the four-day Support to Agricultural Research for Development of Strategic Crops (SARD-CS) Wheat Annual Review and Planning Meeting, said there is need to increase wheat production and save funds to develop other projects.

The meeting was attended by sub- Saharan African agronomists, wheat breeders, researchers, agriculture economists and wheat farmers from Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Tunisia, Leso­tho, Kenya, Zambia and Nigeria.

Speaking at the meeting, the Sec­retary of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Ringson Chitsiko, said Africa should prioritise wheat as a strategic crop in order re­duce the import bill.

He added: “We should have pas­sion. If we feel passionate about do­mesticating wheat on the continent, we can reduce the import bill from $15 billion and use the money for in­frastructural development. Wheat pro­duction is a sense of urgency we need to feel and do now rather than later days or years.”

SARD-SC promotes production of food crops such as wheat, maize, cas­sava and rice with funding from the African Development Bank (AfDB).

 

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