Nigeria’s Peanut Consumption Is Expected To Grow 8% To 4.45MMT – Report

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Nigeria’s Peanut Consumption Is Expected To Grow 8% To 4.45MMT - Report-Brand Spur Nigeria
Nigeria’s Peanut Consumption Is Expected To Grow 8% To 4.45MMT - Report-Brand Spur Nigeria

Foreign Agricultural Services (FAS) Lagos forecasts Nigeria’s peanut total consumption in MY 2021/22 to reach over 4.8 million metric tons (MMT), up by nearly 8 percent compared to the USDA official MY 2020/21 estimate of 4.45 million metric tons (MMT).

Nigeria is the largest producer of peanuts in sub-Saharan Africa and third in the world. Prior to the persistent insurgency in the northern part of the country, groundnut pyramids were common across northern Nigeria. Groundnut pyramids were pyramid-like structures made from groundnut sacks. In tandem with the insurgency, a combination of drought, and diseases are limiting bumper production in the north.

FAS expects Nigeria’s food use domestic consumption in MY 2021/22 at around 2.8 million metric tons (MMT) an uptick of 6 percent increase compared to the USDA MY 2020/21 estimate of 2.65 million metric tons (MMT). Post sees increasing consumption of roasted, whole peanut consumption along with peanut-based snacks and peanut butter in Nigeria’s urban areas.

FAS Lagos expects Nigeria’s peanut feed waste consumption in MY 2021/22 to reach 1.2 million metric tons (MMT), up by 14 percent or growing by 150,000 metric tons (MT) compared to the USDA official MY 2020/21 estimate of 1.05 million metric tons (MMT).

The increase is due to the growth in the number of domestic ranching operations; these are using peanut waste as an affordable feed input. Poultry and aquaculture feed millers are also experimenting with feed formulations by incorporating peanut cake to reduce production costs. Peanut shells also serve as a fuel source in some local oil factories, as well as spread on fields for soil enrichment.

PRODUCTION

FAS Lagos forecasts Nigeria’s peanut production in MY 2021/22 (May-April) at 4.8million metric tons (MMT), up nearly by 9 per cent or some 400,000 metric tons (MT) from the USDA official MY 2020/21 estimate of 4.4 million metric tons (MMT).

Area harvested at 3.5 million hectares (MMT) in MY 2021/22 is up by 9 percent compared to the USDA official MY 2020/21 estimate of 3.2 million hectares. Post sees farmers in the less conflict prone states in southern Nigeria expanding plantings to take advantage of growing demand, and prices paid, by food processors and animal feed manufacturers.

TRADE

FAS Lagos forecasts Nigeria’s peanut imports in MY 2021/22 to remain same with what the USDA estimated in the previous year. Trade-in Nigeria’s peanut production is mainly locally. There is however some informal regional trade that occurs between Nigeria and the neighboring Sahel region countries (i.e., Niger, Chad, and Cameroon), where Nigerian peanuts command high prices. Nigeria is the largest peanut producer in Africa, accounting for 30 percent of Africa’s total peanut production, and third in the world after China and India.

The country’s poorer farmers produce peanut largely under rain-fed conditions. Around 30 percent of the crop exceeds permissible aflatoxin levels for most countries including Nigeria.

To reenter the global market, Nigeria needs to address the aflatoxin in peanuts issue. A few tears ago, IITA developed aflasafe, which is a biocontrol solution to reduce aflatoxin in soybean and peanut. Currently, the adoption rate of aflasafe is low among the smallholder farmers – but growing due to extension programs.