The evolution of the ‘wheat trap’: the Nigerian wheat boom

Abstract

Abstract In the 1970s large-scale irrigation in Nigeria failed to produce the import-substituting wheat which was to a large extent its raison d'être. Nigerian determination to achieve wheat self-sufficiency has continued through the medium of the recently expanded ADP schemes. After outlining the conjunction of events which led to the formation of the original ‘wheat trap’ envisaged by Andrae and Beckman (1985), this article goes on to demonstrate how the ADP scheme established in Kano State has led to significant changes in agricultural practices and patterns of production within the state. It is argued that, in the longer term, the socio-economic, agronomic, ecological and pedological consequences of the federal government's present wheat import substitution policies could be disastrous for food production in northern Nigeria.