The growth of wheat and its diverse usage in Nigeria has seen its value chain account for over 10.5 million jobs generated annually in the country, Managing Director of Crown Flour Mill, Mr. Ashish Pande, has disclosed.
The development he said has placed the wheat value chain at the centre of the various economic development agenda of the federal government of Nigeria.
Pande spoke when a senior management team from Crown Flour Mill paid the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, a courtesy visit in Abuja.
He re-echoed the company’s promise to continue to collaborate with other stakeholders within the local wheat value chain in sustaining the socio-economic value proposition of the sector.
Represented by the Corporate Affairs Manager, Olam Nigeria, Ms. Damilola Adeniyi, he explained that the rising consumption of wheat derivative foods in the country has stimulated further job opportunities at the production, processing, distribution, warehousing and retailing levels of the wheat value chain.
According to Pande, flour millers continue to take bold developmental steps through scaled investments in critical areas including seed trial and research, training of smallholder wheat farmers and funding of the various farming research institutes in the country to ensure that the current local production level of the wheat crop improves significantly.
“While these efforts have ensured that we keep providing affordable and quality food for the growing Nigerian population, they have also helped to increase the number of jobs being created for the active segment of the population. Overall, the investment efforts, which extend to capacity building initiatives for bakers, are beginning to yield positive results.” he added.
