The Federal government has unveiled the second maize pyramid in Kaduna state under the Central Bank of Nigeria and Maize Association of Nigeria Anchor Borrowers programme.

Speaking at the event, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, said the Anchor Borrowers Programme has achieved its desired objective aimed at curtailing food import and enhancing self Sufficiency in maize production.

Nigeria is the 13th largest producer of maize in the world, and the 2nd in the African Continent after South Africa.

The annual consumption of maize stood at 12.38 million metric tonnes as at 2021, with 60 per cent of it being consumed by the industrial sector, but despite being the second producer of maize in sub-Saharan Africa, there is still a supply and demand gap of over four metric tonnes of the product.

The unveiling of the maize pyramid comes months after President Buhari unveiled bags of rice paddy numbering one million stacked as pyramids in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

The bags of rice were planted and harvested from states across the country also under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) and in collaboration with the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN). (CHANNELS TV)

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