Nigeria faces tightrope between fast-growing food, emission reduction commitments as biofuels come under scrutiny

In Nigeria, Oloche Edache, FAO regional representative for Africa, said that the country will require a 70 to 80 per cent increase in food supplies to meet its food requirements by 2015, and that the national emphasis on biofuels development, carried out as a part of Nigeria’s commitments under the Kyoto Treaty, would put upward pressure on agricultural prices for the next decade. Nigeria has planned $876 million in agricultural development funding over the next four years.

Kofi Annan, former secretary-general of the UN now serving as Chairman of Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, added that Sub-Saharan Africa is the only part of the world where per capita food production has declined in the past 30 years, and that improving the prospects for small-scale farmers is the key to African prosperity.

Nogeria has been moving into high gear in ethanol production development. The Minister of Commerce and Industry said last month that Nigeria is building five new sugar plants and has the potential to become a leading ethanol producer. He noted new new sugar plants are being built in Jigawa, Bauchi, Taraba, Kogi and Lagos states.

Nigeria produces 50,000 tonnes of sugar out of a total consumption of 1.176 million tonnes. The National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) has requested a Presidential Initiative to construct six regional facilities producing 100,000 tons of sugar, 5 Mgy of sugar ethanol, and 25 MW of power for the factory and the national grid.

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