The CEO of Flour Mills of Nigeria, Boye Olusanya has stated that Nigeria will be affected by the crisis in Russia and Ukraine, and the country needs to start discussing solutions.
“The reality is that Russia and Ukraine are number one and number five in wheat production, and if you take that volume, which is almost one-third of global production, there would be an immediate impact on prices,” he said.
“Today, the prices of wheat have gone up. There is a lag that comes because of inventory control, but it is something that we need to sit down with the government to say what measures can we put in place to alleviate what is coming.
“The impact is not just on wheat alone; Ukraine is one of the largest producers of maize, which will also have a significant on maize, which is an alternative to wheat.
“You will start looking at cross-border trafficking of maize, more farmers will look into taking maize out of the country.
“The last impact is on fertilizers, and the impact is not just short term, you’re looking at a one-off thing. You’re looking an impact on production over a year to 18 months.
“When you look at all that and what then happens in pricing, obviously, if we don’t manage this well, there will be significant volume compression, in terms of material that comes in and therefore the volume of food that is sold.”
He said this may affect fortification efforts, which will subsequently affect the health of Nigerians if a quick solution is not figured out
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