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In an effort to leverage the Food Security Emergency declared by President Ahmed Bola Tinubu-led administration last year, Niger Foods, in partnership with the Nigeria Sugar Development Council, has taken a bold step to revive the $2.5 billion Nigerian sugar industry.
This was made known by the Niger State Governor’s Special Adviser on Digital Media and Strategy, Abdullbaqy Usman Ebbo, during an interaction with journalists on Friday in Minna.
He stated that the initiative is another bold step to promote food security and rural industrialisation in Nigeria, which will boost agricultural production and create a better economy for all.
Abdullbaqy Usman Ebbo noted that during a side event of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Niger Foods signed a deal with Uttam Sucrotech (a consortium composed of leading Brazil and India Sugar Value Chain experts) to develop 250,000 hectares of sugarcane fields and 6 sugar/ethanol plants in Niger State over the next 3 years.
According to him, the Niger Farms project, which will harness about 90,000 hectares along the recently flagged-off Sokoto-Lagos Super Highway, will produce 2.5 million metric tons of sugar, 250 million litres of ethanol, and generate 300 megawatts of electricity.
He added that it will also create 100,000 direct jobs and 250,000 indirect jobs, aside from the projected 750,000 outgrower participants.
Speaking at the event, the Minister for Foreign Affairs praised the Niger State Government for its private-sector approach to the development of agriculture through the creation of Niger Foods and for the strategic choice of partnering with the two leading sugar producers in the world, Brazil (specialised in large-scale cultivation) and India (specialised in structured small-scale out-grower programs).
Abdullbaqy Ebbo quoted the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, who expressed the support of the Ministry for Niger State in its quest for large-scale mechanised and integrated agriculture while also praising the strategic choice of coupling research and innovation with farm development.
He said the development of the sugar value chain will give birth to a vibrant livestock industry in Niger State, and the mixed cropping of sugar with soybean will ensure massive foreign earnings.
In his remarks, Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago of Niger State thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the unprecedented initiative for the socio-economic development of Nigeria.
Ebbo hinted that Governor Bago said the components of the Super Highways passing through Niger State will open 90,000 hectares of arable land, which will be part of the fields used for the sugar project.
It could be recalled that in the 1960s, Nigeria, Brazil, and India were developing sugarcane cultivation. According to the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Sugar Council, Mr Kamar Bakrin, the Nigerian sugar industry has since stagnated, with the area cultivated being less than 20,000 hectares, producing about 540,000 metric tons (about 3% of Nigeria’s current sugar demand), compared to Brazil’s and India’s production of 41 million metric tons and 36 million metric tons, respectively.
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