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Nigeria Becomes #2 Sorghum Producer in the World

06 October 2017 10:09 (UTC +04:00)

Nigeria has recently become the second largest sorghum producer on the planet after the United States.

In 2017/18, according to analytics reports, the production of sorghum in the world is forecast at almost 59.45 million metric tons.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the USA’s production is planned at 8.4m metric tons. Nigeria is the second with over 6.42m metric tons. Mexico takes the third position with almost 6.0m metric tons.

The USDA has also reported that in 2016/2017, over 63m tones of sorghum were produced. Therefore, this year will be a decrease of over 3.75m tons.

Nigerian Breweries Plc, NB, one of the largest local industrial consumers of sorghum has recently issued a special report. In particular, it says that in 2015, the Nigerian beverages and food sector utilized almost 20% (1.3m metric tons) of the grain as raw materials. Over 80% (4.2m tons) were used to produce livestock feed and food.

Sorghum is a traditional local grain. It mainly grows in Savannah, the semi-arid, and grassland areas of Northern Nigeria. According to the mentioned report sorghum is nutritionally rich, serving as staple foods all over northern Nigeria. Since recently, sorghum has been actively used in the beverage industry.

Source: NAIJ News in Nigeria.