Salient Fact about Maize Production & Why You Should Consider Investing In It

Maize farming and production business in Africa is a high-potential opportunity for the continent.

Maize is one of the most common and important food crops across Africa. It is widely eaten in various forms and more than 900 million Africans depend on maize every year due to its relatively cheap price compare to rice and wheat, two of the other most consumed cereals.

To say the fact, many of our daily diets contain maize either directly or indirectly. Production of meat, eggs and dairy products (like milk and yoghurt) would be difficult without maize, which is a hugely important ingredient in animal feed.

Africa produces over 50 million tons of maize every year; yet spends over $2 billion to import maize. As population continues to grow, the demand for maize will increase rapidly over the coming decades.

The Question is why is maize an interesting business opportunity?

Maize is a totally amazing crop. By planting just one seed of maize, you get over 500 kernels in return at harvest. That’s an incredible return on investment!

Maize is well suited for developing regions like Africa with abundance of sunlight and vast array of soils and different climatic conditions on our continent which can support the crop.

Maize also matures really fast. From the time it is planted, maize requires only between 90 to 120 days (about 4 months) to reach harvest. This allows it to survive in areas with short periods of rainfall and irregular water supplies.

1.       Maize farming and production in Africa

2.      One of the reasons maize is in high demand as a food crop is its high energy and nutritional value. It is rich in Vitamins A, C and E, several essential minerals, and contains up to 9% protein. It is also rich in dietary fibre and carbohydrates which are a good source of energy.

It is no surprise that in many parts of East Africa, maize accounts for an average of one third of the daily caloric intake.

Maize remains a key food crop in Africa, Latin America and Asia. Although it is primarily used as human food in developing regions of the world, maize is one of the most important raw materials for animal feed production and biofuels in developed countries.

Maize is also a versatile food product for Africans. It is processed and prepared in various forms depending on the country and culture.

In all parts of Africa, green (fresh) maize is boiled or roasted on its cob and served as a snack. Popcorn is also a popular snack derived from the maize crop.

Because of its huge strategic importance and versatile uses as human food, animal feed and a valuable industrial raw material, the production of maize is taken very seriously around the world.

According to IITA estimates, about 800 million tons of maize is produced worldwide every year. Africa produces 6.5 percent of this volume which is still insufficient for local consumption.

Nigeria remains Africa’s largest producer with nearly 8 million tons produced per annum. It is closely followed by South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. The United States remains the world’s largest producer with 42% of all maize produced globally.

Who are the biggest buyers and consumers of maize in Africa?

Maize is a food crop that is in high demand across Africa.

Let’s look at each of these segments to find out the reasons for their demand and the lucrative potentials of this demand.

Human beings

Africans directly consume about 30 percent of all maize that is produced worldwide. Unlike in developed countries where a major portion of maize produced is used for animal feed, maize is a significant part of diets in Africa.

More maize is eaten per person in Africa than in any other part of the world. Lesotho has the highest consumption per capita of maize in the world (174kg/person). Eastern and Southern Africa use 85% of harvested maize as food, while Africa as a whole uses 95%, compared to other world regions that use most of their maize as animal feed.

Africa has one of the fastest growing populations in the world with an annual population growth rate of nearly 3 per cent over the last 20 years.

With the world’s highest birth rate, its current population of nearly one billion people is predicted to more than double in 40 years to 2.3 billion (source: McKinsey Research).

It is expected that the demand for maize as human food will grow in step with Africa’s population. The demand for more maize in the coming years is certain. Whether the increased volumes of maize will be produced locally or imported from outside the continent remains uncertain.

Animal Feed Producers

Maize is a favourite raw material for animal feed. It is cheaper than many of the other feed alternatives and provides the required nutritional content for livestock. As a result, over 60% of maize produced worldwide is used in feed production.

In Asia, and many of the developed countries, more maize is used in animal feed production than for human consumption. For example, the United States, the world’s largest producer of maize, uses over 80 percent of its maize harvest to produce animal feed.

The growing production and demand for meat is having a strong effect on the demand for maize. In the future, less maize may be eaten directly and more will be consumed indirectly (through poultry, meat and dairy products).

Industrial consumers

Maize has quite a high starch content which makes it a high-demand industrial raw material.

The starch obtained from maize is processed into several additives, agents and ingredients such as dextrine, sorbitol, sorbic acid and lactic acid. You may not recognize these substances but they are used in many household items that you know and use such as: ink, cosmetics, paint, medicines, syrups, ice cream, shoe polish, fireworks batteries and glue.

Yes, all of these things contain starch.

Starch from maize is also heavily used to produce bioethanol, a form of renewable fuel used as an alternative to petrol (gasoline) to power cars, trucks and buses.

Ethanol is also used as a solvent in the manufacture of varnishes and perfumes; in the preparation of essences and flavorings; and in many medicines and drugs.

Some of the biggest industrial buyers of maize are food producers and breweries. International food processing giants like Nestle and Kelloggs (just to mention a few) purchase a lot of maize to produce some of the famous cereal-based breakfast brands like Cornflakes.

Breweries also use maize as a major raw material for beer production. Africans consume millions of litres of beer every year and this volume is expected to rise significantly due to population growth and economic prosperity.

The more beer that is produced, the more maize that will be purchased by brewers across the continent to produce beer

How to start and succeed in the maize production business

Compared to many other crops, maize is quite easy to produce. However, succeeding in the maize production business requires knowledge and skill.

Important things to keep in mind if you are interested in maize farming:

a.       Land: The first and most important thing you will need to get started with maize production is land. Maize grows best in rich loamy or sandy-loam soils in a well-drained area that has a flat or fairly flat landscape. Maize will not do well in waterlogged land. If the land is not well drained, you could make ridges or mounds to protect the crops from waterlogging. Because the maize plant loves sunlight, the land has to be in the open and free from any kind of shade (such as tall trees or man-made structures) that prevents sunlight from reaching the planted maize. The land has to be cleared and tilled before the rainy season starts and the maize should be planted immediately after the land is prepared. If this is not done, weeds may grow fast and compete with the maize for nutrients and sunlight.

b.      Good variety of seed: There are different varieties of maize in the world today and the type you choose to produce will depend on consumer preferences and market demand in your area. In some localities, white corn is more popular than the yellow variety. In some other areas, it is vice-versa. However, the best maize varieties grow fast, are high yielding, mature earlier than the local varieties and are resistant to major pests and diseases. There are now some hybrid varieties that use much less water and can often survive in drought-prone areas.
- There are also late-maturing and early-maturing varieties of maize.
- Late-maturing varieties mature in 110-120 days and are good for zones with a long rainy season.
- Early-maturing varieties mature in 90-100 days and can be planted after a late-maturing variety in zones with two seasons of rainfall.
- There are also extra-early varieties which mature in 80-90 days. These can be planted in zones with very short rainy season (usually 2-3 months long).

When and how to plant maize

There are now no specific dates to plant maize. Depending on your region, you could follow the previous history of rains in the area. However, it’s best to plant after it has rained consecutively for 2 to 3 times.

Planting only when the rains have come will help the maize seeds to germinate and grow well.

Some maize varieties need between 450 to 600 mm of water per season to grow, most of which it gets from moisture reserves in the soil.

According to research, at maturity, it is estimated that each maize plant will have consumed about 250 litres of water.

It is also very important that you pay very close attention to the health of the maize seeds you plant. You should only buy maize seeds for planting from dependable sources.

For best results, avoid buying maize seeds from the local or open market near you. These seeds could be rotten or already contaminated by disease which will likely affect its growth performance.

Watch out for weeds, pests and diseases!

There are several types of weeds, pests and diseases that affect maize plants such as stem borers, army worms, grasshoppers, larger grain borers, downy mildew, maize streak virus and Striga among others.

Fortunately, there are several herbicides, pesticides and disease control methods you can apply to prevent a breakout on your farm. The manual in the next section contains useful information about these methods and how you can apply them.

Harvest: what can you expect?

The amount of maize that can be harvested (per hectare) depends on the variety you planted, amount of rainfall, sunshine and the level of weed, pest and disease control management that was applied.

Although Africa has some of the lowest maize yields in the world, it is not uncommon to expect between 2 to 4 tons per hectare.

Resources & Learning materials

Here are a few interesting resources and learning materials that will give you a headstart

1.      How to Grow a Good Maize Crop is a simply-written and easy to understand handbook developed by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). The handbook is very well written. It covers everything from site selection, land preparation, seed selection and treatment, fertilizer treatment, storage of grains and several other important topics.

2.      Maize Production Manual is another interesting and detailed handbook from South Africa’s Department of Agriculture. It’s a well-written manual and full of great information for beginners. It also contains detailed information.

Maize farming and production business is worth a try…

Write up courtesy: smallstarter 

FG To Close Down Unregistered Poultry Farms

As a way of enforcing bio-security measures in the poultry industry, the federal government has resolved to close down all unregistered poultry farms in the country.

This was revealed by the minister of agriculture and rural development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, when he received members of the National body of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) in the ministry’s  headquarters in Abuja, recently.

Ogbeh charged poultry farmers to be more disciplined on the issue of hygiene in the operations of their farms and urged them to always report incidences of diseases to avoid further losses, saying that it is only by registering with government and the poultry association (PAN) that effective containment and control of outbreaks of diseases could be successful.

The minister assured the poultry farmers of government’s resolve to revisit the issue of compensation by conducting a verification exercise to ensure the authenticity of claims by farmers affected by the Avian Influenza with a view to finding possible ways of paying.

He promised to take up the issue of multiple taxation and Value Added Tax (VAT) on maize with the presidency as it is affecting the production of poultry products in the country. According to him, government may consider the release of part of the maize in the strategic reserve to support the poultry industry because the demand for maize has become so high, and stated the need for subsidy on agriculture products, saying this would ensure the success of the proposed school feeding programme, especially with regard to eggs, milk, and poultry meat.

Ogbeh explained that the Egyptians and Americans have found vaccines for Avian Influenza but government was still studying the effectiveness of the vaccines, noting that poultry farmers would be informed on government’s decision on the issue.

On the restructuring of the Bank of Agriculture (BOA), the minister said that plans were ongoing to ensure that farmers owned the majority shares of the BOA and even sit on the board of the bank, saying that this would enable the farmers draw more benefits. He said that a dedicated website would soon be opened by government to educate Nigerians on the dangers and health implications of consuming smuggled goods.

Also in his remarks, the minister of state for agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, described as unacceptable a situation where other countries export agro-products and Nigeria imports, and gave advise on the need to take the issue of food security seriously, adding that research institutes’ outcomes should be able to change the status of the country.

Earlier in his remarks, the national president of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Dr Ayoola Oduntan, pledged the readiness of the association to work with government and other relevant government agencies to produce affordable products for Nigerians. Oduntan said that the poultry value chain has contributed, among others, over 25 per cent to the GDP the economy with a current worth of $8 billion, and urged government to give adequate attention and protection to the poultry industry by putting up strong measures to immediately control, contain, and bring to a halt the further decimation of the 

Source: Leadership news online

Dangote Opens Tomato Factory to ward off Chinese Imports

The Dangote Group, owned by Africa's richest man, Aliko Dangote, has opened a tomato-processing factory near Nigeria's northern city of Kano aimed at vying for the local market with imports from China.

"We have fully started operations today and the target is 1,200 metric tons per day," the managing director of Dangote Farms Limited, which runs the plant, Abdulkareem Kaita, said Tuesday in an interview with Bloomberg.

"We are going to work with the farmers, they can afford to produce more because there's a processing factory and they don't have to suffer losses like they did before."

The plant that will produce 1,200 metric tons per day was built following a 2011 Central Bank of Nigeria study that showed it was cheaper to process tomato paste locally than import from China, the source of about 300,000 tons a year worth $360 million.

Yet the country produces 1.5 million tons of tomatoes annually of which about 900,000 tons rot, according to the Agriculture Ministry.

Dangote's facility will produce more than 400,000 tons of paste annually, with most of its raw material coming from farmers in the Kadawa Valley in Kano state.

Farmers will receive a guaranteed price of about $700 per ton compared to an average of less than $350 now, according to estimates by the central bank, which helped organise the farmers and arrange credit from banks.

The Dangote Group owns businesses including cement plants, flour mills, fruit canning plants, palm oil refineries, salt and oil assets.

Soource: allAfrica.com 

NAFDAC ‎bans beans importation

THE Nigerian Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has on Thursday said it has placed a ban on the importation of beans in the country.

The Acting Director General of the Agency, Mrs. Yetunde Oni, said the ban is not for the ones produced in the country, but ‎on the ones that are imported.

 

 

She said this in Minna during an Awareness/Sensitisation Workshop on Safe and Responsible use of Regulated Agricultural inputs for Stakeholders in the North Central Zone, adding that only beans screened by the Agency would be allowed into the country.

Surplus Strawberry in Plateau, Few Buyers

Jos — If you think that certain imported exotic fruits seen in some of the biggest shopping malls cannot grow in Nigeria, you better have a rethink! Every city in the country can grow something unique. Nigeria is a blessed country with different agro ecological zones having huge potentials.

Strawberry, an exotic fruit, which until now does not receive any serious attention as one of the fruits grown in the country, is now the most important produce that shapes the economic power of the people of Chaha community.

 

The community, located at the outskirt of Vom, Plateau State, gives the heart-shaped fruit the desired attention from the day they discovered it has the potentials to change their fortune and lift them from the shackles of poverty.

This reporter, prompted by the sale of the produce to motorists along Jos-Abuja Road in Jos, traced its origin to Chaha village where everybody seems to have a strawberry farm- although there are few other strawberry farmers in Jos, Plateau State capital.

A farmer does not need to buy the seed or seedlings every farming year. This is because the vines after production can be transferred as seedlings to another plot in the new farming season. This quality leaves farmers with no burden of looking for seed each planting season. Their major burden is manure, fertiliser and market.

Nuhu Samuel is a 29-year-old strawberry farmer. He told the reporter that he got into the farming after he saw his father making money from it. Although he said he cannot tell where his father got the seed from, he got the seedlings from him.

The father of two children stated that he plants in July and harvests in November. He sells in killogramme-N700 to N1, 000 per kilogramme.

Samuel gets 30 to 40 killogrammes from his farm twice a week, which helps him to pocket between N28, 000 to N40, 000. For him water supply to the farm is not much of a problem because some of the mining pods serve as mini irrigation dams that supply water to his farms.

 A farmer does not need to buy the seed or seedlings every farming year. This is because the vines after production can be transferred as seedlings to another plot in the new farming season. This quality leaves farmers with no burden of looking for seed each planting season. Their major burden is manure, fertiliser and market.

They are sold in kilogram with prices ranging from N700 to N1, 000 per kilogramme.

The reporter seeks to know where he sells his produce or if he has challenges selling it, and he said: "We have one man who comes from Abuja to buy the produce from us. We normally take it to him in Vom. Apart from him, some women who sell the produce along the major roads in and around Jos come here to buy."

On how much he makes from it in a season, he said: "It depends, there are seasons that we make between N300, 000 to N400, 000 while in some seasons, I make up to N1 million from my two plots alone."

Isaac Michael is a 22-year-old strawberry farmer in the community. He was working in his farm when the reporter met him. He said that he was inspired to farm by Thomas Choji, who he said started the strawberry farming in the community.

Unlike Samuel who has been farming it for the past five years, Michael is a new comer into strawberry farming after seeing other young farmers of his age making money from it.

"I could not start earlier because I did not save enough money to buy the seedlings because it is too expensive. But July last year, I managed to save money from my cabbage and carrot farm to buy the strawberry seedlings which I planted in this farm."

According to him, each seedling costs N200. He said he has no problem with water supply as his farm is located at the bank of a lake constructed by miners.

Michael is now harvesting four cartons worth of strawberry every week. Each of those cartons contains five killogrammes of the produce. But how much does he sell a killogramme?

"It depends on the forces that shape the market such as glut and scarcity. Between October and December, it is usually very expensive. So we sell for between N900 and N1, 000 a kilo. But now, the product is plenty as you can see. During the heat period-because it is heat that facilitates its growth, we sell for between N700 and N800 per kilogramme."

"Before the season ends in April, I will make N400, 000, I could even make more if I get a better market," the 22-year-old man said.

"But honestly, it is not easy for us to sell it here. If you harvest it and keep it, before tomorrow it will change its colour. You must get the person who wants to buy before you harvest it, if not you can't harvest it and keep it. Unless you have a cooling system like the refrigerator before you can do that. This is a big challenge for us here."

For Patrick Mancha, a 45 year-old-father of five, the idea of starting a strawberry farm came to him when, as a worker on other peoples' farms, he saw how the farmers were making money from it.

With the money he realised from working for others, he established his own farm, which gives him money to feed his family and send his children to some of the expensive schools in Jos.

Mancha said he sells strawberry in cartons, which weigh 5.5 killogrammes at the price of N3, 600. The day the reporter visited the farm, he harvested 70 killogrammes from only one of the three strawberry farms, which he does twice a week.

Conducting the reporter round his farms, Patrick stressed that he will harvest 150 killogrammes if it reaches March which will give him approximately N105, 000 weekly if he sells at the least price of N700 per killogramme.

"Last year I realised N300, 000 from the small farmland I cultivated. This year, I have decided to expand the land to three plots. As you can see, the 70kg I harvested did not include the other farms. If I add those ones I may get 120kg and that will be twice a week."

Choji Emmanuel is one of the biggest strawberry farmers in Chaha. In a chat with the reporter, he stressed that the major challenge of strawberry farmers in the community is lack of market for the produce in Jos.

He told the reporter that he has attended many workshops organised for strawberry farmers on the Plateau but nothing happened afterwards.

The 29-year-old lamented that the community produces strawberry enough to meet any buyer's demand, yet they rely on few individuals and retailers to buy from them.

"We know how to farm strawberry here, but the market is our problem. We want people and companies to know that we have enough of this fruit here. What we need now is just the market."

Emmanuel has been in strawberry production for over six years. He recalled one particular year when he couldn't find buyers for the product, making them to record huge losses.

"We know there are people who need this product somewhere in Nigeria but we don't know how to locate them. I hope one day, some of these people will find us here."

According to him, even though they have Strawberry Farmers Association in the community, the leaders are not educated to help members locate where the markets for their produce lie in the country.

This reporter made effort to speak to the leaders of the association but failed because they were all out of the village trying to find buyers.

Speaking to many farmers in Chaha community it was discovered that they have the same challenge-market for their produce. They want to know where to meet buyers.

Even the government at the state and local levels do not seem to work for the interest of their famers who can make the state a hub for horticulture in Africa. Despite huge potentials created by its unique weather, the Plateau State and its local governments have failed its farmers. Even the federal government failed to see the billions of Naira lying untapped on the Plateau.

For the community, access to good road, link to bulk buyers and basic inputs such as water pumping machines and fertiliser continue to elude them.

Efforts to get the local government authorities and the state commissioner of agriculture to comment on these matters also failed

Source: Allafrica.com

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Namibia Needs 120 000 Tonnes of Maize Imports

NAMIBIA needs to import about 120 000 tonnes of maize to fill the gap in the market due to poor rainfall.

The Agronomic Board of Namibia's manager of maize and wheat, Antoinette Venter, raised the concern about the poor rainfall received so far in an interview on Monday, noting that the production season is only starting now.

"Namibia has produced very, very little maize locally. We only produced about a maximum of 30 000 tonnes of irrigation maize. But these are only broad projections," she noted.

Namibia's 2015 maize crop was 44% lower compared to 2014's (above-average) output, according to figures released by the Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) on Thursday. It noted that around half of all dry land commercial farmers experienced total crop losses as a result of the drought and high temperatures.

  

"An estimated 370 316 people are food insecure and the target of a government drought relief programme," it warned.

South Africa is the biggest victim of the drought. It is the region's main maize producer, but last year output fell 30% below the bumper 2014 season and it may have to import around six million tonnes of maize. Planting of the 2016 cereal crop began later than normal due to delayed rains, according to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).

South Africa has indicated that this El Niño-induced drought is the worst the country has suffered in more than half a century. The El Niño global weather event, which is leading to even worse drought across the region, is already affecting this year's crop. WFP warned that with little or no rain falling in many areas and the window for the planting of cereals closing fast or already closed in some countries, the outlook is "alarming."

"The region is ill prepared for a shock of this magnitude, particularly since the last growing season was also affected by drought. This means depleted regional stocks, high food prices, and substantially increased numbers of food insecure people," the UN agency added.

Meanwhile, local miller Namib Mills announced price increases on all its product categories, effective 25 January 2016.

The price of maize meal products increased by 10%, wheat flour by 6%, mahangu meal by 20% and sugar products by 15%. The price of rice products also increased by 15 to 23% in two categories.

The company said one of the reasons for the price increases was that pressure of the drought in southern Africa had increased maize prices dramatically, as supply declined under the dry conditions.

- Nampa

Source: AllAfrica.com