[ad_1]
• Ofada, Abakaliki, Big Bull, Kiara rice hit 100% spike in a year, range between N84,000 and N120,000
• Ogun, Lagos, Kebbi, Ebonyi, Delta, Bayelsa mills grounded
Despite the federal government’s acclaimed increase in local production and recent investments to optimise rice mills in some states, the local production dependency target has continued to be a mirage.
With her position as Africa’s top rice producer and one of the world’s leading producers, only slightly more than half of the rice consumed in Nigeria is produced locally, resulting in a supply deficit of approximately three million metric tonnes.
Currently, the price of local rice has increased tremendously, even beyond the reach of average Nigerians, with the majority preferring foreign alternatives, which are not only more affordable, but mostly of good quality, better processed and packaged.
A local bowl (Olodo) of Ofada rice, previously sold for N13,000 as of last year July at the Ofada Rice Market, Wasimi, Ogun State, currently sells for N21,000 and above in open markets. In stalls, The Guardian market survey shows that a 50kg bag of rice sells between N80,000 and N120,000, depending on the brand.
The 50kg of Abakaliki long grain rice is currently selling for N84,000, compared to N19,000 it sold in 2020. The 50kg of Big Bull rice, a product of WACOT Rice Limited, based in Kebbi State, sells for between N98,000 and N108,000, depending on the seller and grain type. For Kiara rice, a product from Niger State, a 50kg bag currently goes for between N94,396 and N116,713.
Sadly, while the country claimed it had made progress in rice production, investigations showed that it still relies heavily on imports to meet the rising local demand, making the government’s dream of self-sufficiency a mirage.
Findings show that as of 2023, the country’s local rice production reached approximately 8.9 million metric tonnes of paddy rice, the highest since 2010, which translates to about 5.2 million metric tonnes of milled rice, with domestic consumption estimated at 7.7 million metric tonnes, leaving a considerable supply deficit. An estimated 3.6 million metric tonnes of the commodity were imported to block the deficit gap.
According to a report by the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), while Nigeria’s milled rice domestic consumption was put at approximately 7.70 million metric tonnes in 2023, with a projected growth rate of 2.16 per cent for this year, the consumption rate was projected to increase by nine per cent to 8.3 million tons between this year and 2026.
Many stakeholders in the sector note that Nigeria has no business importing rice, given the abundant arable land, massive farming population and favourable climatic conditions that support the production of grain across the country.
Considering the availability of the resources needed to be self-sufficient in rice production, rice is cultivated in almost all the states of the federation. 29 out of 36 states cultivate rice except for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, yet the country ranks the third highest importer of rice with over 2.1 million metric tonnes imported yearly.
One of the major questions in the minds of Nigerians and some concerned stakeholders is why the country is still import-dependent despite the state’s efforts and the renewed drive by the Federal Government to achieve the rice revolution dream.
The ugly trend, which has contributed to hunger, occasioned by the general economic situation in the country, was largely blamed on production challenges. The AFEX Commodities Exchange in its 2024 Crop Production Report for rice in Nigeria, for instance, projected a 2.6 per cent decline in production, resulting in a total output of approximately 8.1 million metric tons from the 9.1 million produced in 2023.
The decline, according to the report, was primarily driven by the high cost of fertilisers, leading to reduced yields, prompting many farmers to shift to alternative crops such as sesame and sorghum, which require less fertiliser and are also more cost-effective to cultivate.
Additionally, it was learnt that widespread insecurity in major rice-producing states such as Katsina, Kebbi, Jigawa, Kwara, and Sokoto has disrupted farming activities. Also compounding the challenges was the severe flooding witnessed in several regions of the country. These factors, no doubt, have significantly impacted the availability and price of paddy rice, experts said, thereby raising concerns about food security and affordability for consumers nationwide.
Equally, a report by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), had earlier forecast a decrease in Nigeria’s rice production owing to higher fertiliser prices, reduced access to farmlands in conflict-prone areas and an increase in unrecorded imports of cheaper paddy, which made local paddy less competitive.
Another factor, according to industry analysts, is the shortage of paddy rice. It was gathered that millers were forced to import raw rice, but the decision of the Indian government in July 2023, which banned export of non-basmati rice to stabilise domestic prices, further worsened the situation. The ban led to the shutdown of many rice mills in Kano due to a lack of paddy.
Sadly, the alleged hoarding and market dynamics, which were identified as part of the reasons for scarcity of paddy rice, created a supply gap, making it accessible only to the highest bidders.
Findings by The Guardian revealed that rice millers and marketers were going directly to houses to purchase paddy. Wealthy individuals with liquid cash were reportedly equally to have been buying up entire community supplies and dictating prices.
A rice miller speaking anonymously disclosed that some individuals with excess foreign currency diverted funds into buying paddy and other foodstuffs, storing them in warehouses until scarcity periods to inflate prices.
The source urged the government to focus more on reducing post-harvest losses and improving farm produce haulage rather than solely intervening at the production level. He held that providing inputs and machinery while allowing farmers to dictate prices was counterproductive.
High transportation costs have also influenced rice prices. A Kano-based farmer and marketer, Musa Aliyu, lamented spending about N1.2m to transport a trailer load of rice from Kano to Abuja. He attributed this to high fuel costs and multiple checkpoints manned by security agencies, which extort money from drivers.
More mills, less food security
In recent years, a considerate number of states – Ogun, Lagos, Kebbi, Ebonyi, Delta and Bayelsa, among others, launched local rice initiatives, with huge budgetary allocations, targeted at making the country self-sufficient in rice production, but majority of them have fizzled out within a short time, while those still in existence have made little impact to make the country less dependent on imported rice.
For instance, the MITROS rice launched by the Ogun State Government in 2017 spent a little over one year before it fizzled out. The then Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, said the launch was not just about the commissioning of a new processing factory – and all its benefits: processing capacity, direct and indirect jobs, economic growth, and so on, but also about the unveiling of a new narrative for Ofada rice.
“The new and improved Ofada rice that this mill will produce will not only feed our people, but we are confident that it will generate foreign exchange for us, as a nation, and to the brand of Sawonjo, Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State and that of Nigeria,” he said.
With the rollout of 150,000 bags in 2018, all eyes were on the state for the purchase of Ofada, a rice variety loved by many for its unique taste and smell. But despite the promises held by this brand, the brand has since gone out of circulation, while the multi-million naira milling machines have been redundant.
For Lagos State, the launch of the multibillion-naira Lagos Rice Mill, Imota in Ikorodu area of the state, marked a major turnaround in the state’s food revolution dream, after the state’s collaboration with Kebbi State, which gave birth to the LAKE rice, came to an end.
Adjudged the largest in the entire Sub-Saharan Africa and one of the largest in the world, the 32 million metric tonnes per hour capacity mill was expected to produce 2.8 million bags of 50kg rice per year and also generate about 250,000 direct and indirect jobs for the state. But for close to two years, Eko rice has not been seen in any market stalls, even the promise made to Lagosians on its availability last December was not fulfilled.
One of the challenges facing the mill, The Guardian learnt, is the alleged dearth of paddy, considered as the major raw material for rice processing. At the onset, critics of the initiative had raised concerns about how such a mill can survive without a farm to feed the plant with ready-made paddy.
According to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, during the launch of the mill, the Lagos-owned Imota Rice Mill will require 200,000 tonnes of paddy yearly, stressing that the commodities exchange would create a steady market for the 2.5 million bags of 50kg rice that would be turned out from the mill yearly.
The unavailability of the paddy, against all expectations, became a major albatross as one of the officials of the Ministry of Agriculture disclosed that transporting paddy from the North is not the best option.
Based on market survey, the product is conspicuously missing even within markets in the state, nor in other states.
For Ebonyi State, the story is pathetic in the sense that the rice brand, named after the state capital, Abakaliki rice, which was widely accepted as a must-serve meal in many Nigerian homes, has practically disappeared from circulation .
Although reasonably priced, Abakaliki rice gained high patronage nationwide when rice importation was banned by the Federal Government. The fact that there was no better alternative made people from various places in Nigeria visit Ebonyi State just to buy rice.
But with all its attributes, ranging from its rich nutritive value that has earned it the consumers’ favourite, to its price affordability, it is worrisome that this same product has practically disappeared from stalls across the states of the federation.
Another major step taken by the government was the unveiling of the 1.2 million bags of rice pyramid in January 2022 in Abuja. The unveiling, done in a fanfare ceremony in Abuja with at least the presidents of three neighbouring countries, was adjudged the world’s largest rice pyramid.
In its bid to reduce rice costs, the government introduced initiatives such as opening sea and land borders for rice imports. However, high clearing costs at ports and foreign exchange (FX) rates have discouraged several food companies from remaining in business. The government also imported 30,000 metric tons of milled rice to be sold at a subsidised rate of N40,000. However, the initiative, launched months ago, has had little or no impact.
To address this situation, the Managing Director of Sahara Farms, Suleiman Dikwa, emphasised tackling the 40 per cent post-harvest losses caused by poor handling, which undermines self-sufficiency goals.
He also advocated establishing commodity boards to regulate arbitrary price fixing by marketers.
A grain merchant, Musa Aliyu, urged the Federal Government to pass an executive order restraining extortion by security agencies at checkpoints.
Aliyu called for the appointment of technocrats to head the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security rather than politicians who may focus more on awarding contracts.
A rice farmer, based in Wasimi area of Ogun State, Akeem Ojo, attributed the problem to what he termed insincerity on the part of the government, as “the efforts of Governors in those states were mere political, hence the little impact felt by the citizens.
“Secondly, the majority of those who received loans and grants to cultivate rice are political farmers who know next to nothing about agriculture. What they do is buy paddy from farmers and process it. When this is done, it adds to the cost of production, hence the commodity becomes unaffordable for the masses.
“We shouldn’t be import-dependent; we shouldn’t have any business importing rice, but the insincerity of our government, not telling the masses the truth and politicisation of the issue of national interest has led us to where we are currently.”
[ad_2]
Source link
