Nigeria to stop importation of sugar by 2023

By Eloyi Matthew

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohammad Nanono, has said  Nigeria would stop the importation of sugar into the Country by  2023.

Nanono stated this at the opening ceremony of a 2-day FeedtheFuture Summit 2021 with the theme, “Post COVID-19: A Repaired Food System, Pathway to a Revived Economy,” in Abuja.

He maintained that the government is on top of the game with the effort put in place to galvanize the agriculture sector as there is massive production of rice despite smuggling activities going on in some parts of the country traceable to neighbouring countries who have become dumping grounds for rice brought and dumped by Thailand and others.

He pointed that in Kano alone there are over 44 rice mills and farmers in other states are deep in rice cultivation, processing, and marketing, which he also noted that agribusiness activities are going on at a massive scale in Katsina State but not organized and that all are a boost for the economy even though they are not officially recorded.

In his words, “We need stakeholders in the agricultural sector to synergize and this is what we want, and unless we create that relationship the poverty we are talking about will not go out.

“When we produce enough food and the people go and sleep with hunger because there is no money the reason being they are not engaged in gainful employment, and that is our biggest challenge.

“What have we done? We have done a lot and we are engaging the international community on that ground. It is very crucial if we are not doing anything about this large army of people who are not employed.

“People have taken upon themselves to invest, and this is the effort we made and there are others.

“For example, I am optimistic that in the next two years we don’t need to import sugar into this country because of the amount of investment made and the funds that are coming within the next two years we will meet the requirement of 1.5 million metric tonnes annually; the Dangote Group, Flour Mill Group, Bua Group will produce sugar that we need in this country.”