Demand for maize in Nigeria is very high while its supply is very low. This is an opportunity for maize farmers to expand their production this year. Before planting maize as a farmer, there is a need for you to identify your potential markets which will be discussed below.

• Human consumption: Maize is regarded as important staple crop as well as a significant part of diets in Africa. Africans consume about 30 percent of all the maize produced in the world while developed countries use a major portion of maize produced for animal feed. Therefore, demand for maize as human food grow as Africa’s population increase.
• Livestock Feed: Maize is an important raw materials 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 percent of maize produced worldwide is used in feed production. Some feed mills in Nigeria are importing maize from neighbouring countries.
• Industrial consumers: Industrial consumption of maize is extremely high because of it high starch content. The starch obtained from maize is processed into several additives, agents and ingredients such as dextrine, sorbic acid and lactic acid. These are used in many household items such as: ink, cosmetics, paint, ice cream, shoe polish, fireworks batteries and glue. In addition, starch from maize is also heavily used to produce bioethanol, a form of renewable fuel used as an alternative to petrol to power automobiles such as 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. Feed mill industry strongly demand for maize in producing feed for poultry, rabbitry, piggery, etc. Yellow maize is most preferred by feed mill in production of livestock feed as it gives a yellow color to poultry, egg yolks and animal fat.

REFERENCES

http://www.foramfera.com/

https://cgspace.cgiar.org