Nigeria has a most realistic chance of
breaking free from the shackles of foreign rice imports by taking
advantage of the current spiralling cost and government policy direction
to advance the cause of self-sufficiency in local production. Nigerians
have understandably been groaning from the weight of rapidly rising
cost of the commodity that went from between N7,000 and N8,000 per
50-kilogramme bag barely two years ago to triple that amount today.
According to figures from the
Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment during the Olusegun Aganga
tenure as minister, Nigeria spent N360 billion on rice imports annually
before the government decided to curtail the unbridled imports two years
ago. This translates to almost a billion naira a day, too much a price
to pay by a country that has the capacity to produce rice, not only for
local consumption, but also for export. With such high cost, especially
in foreign exchange needs, continuing along this path would have been
nothing short of a journey towards perdition.
But faced with the stark reality of
an economy currently in dire straits, the government is doing everything
within its power to cut down on its huge food import bills, especially
that of rice which, over the years, has become a major staple in the
country. But will Nigeria escape from the rice trap soon? The Central
Bank of Nigeria says, “By the end of 2017, Nigeria will not only meet
our national demand, which is between six and seven tonnes per year, but
we will exceed it and we will have rice to export to other countries.”
Now, the country ranks second, next only to China, on the list of major
rice importers, with consumption standing at between 5.5 million metric
tonnes and six million metric tonnes annually, going by official
figures. But with a ban on imports through the land borders, there is
now a huge gap between demand and supply that has driven up prices
alarmingly.
Naturally, the challenge now is for
local farmers to fill the gap, and reports indicate encouraging
responses. Addressing members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and
Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural
Development, told them in October to expect a fall in the prices of
rice. “By November when the full-scale harvests start, rice prices will
fall,” Ogbeh said. Nigerians are, however, waiting expectantly for the
predicted price tumble.
With Christmas – a major Christian
festive season, when rice is usually in high demand – around the corner,
some states are already making pronouncements to the effect that they
can conveniently manage without imported rice. In Ebonyi State, renowned
for the cultivation of the popular Abakaliki brand of rice, the
Governor, Dave Umahi, has placed a ban on serving of imported rice at
public occasions. “The parboiling process of Abakaliki rice makes it
durable, unlike the imported rice which does not undergo parboiling,”
the governor said recently while trying to promote his state’s homegrown
rice.
In neighbouring Anambra, which
recently played host to a Federal Government delegation, led by Ogbeh
and the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, the
Commissioner for Agriculture, Afam Mbanefo, stated in Awka, the capital,
that the state had attained self-sufficiency in rice production. “Based
on the calculation of our expected yield, we are expecting to realise
over 336,000 metric tonnes of rice in 2016,” he said, which exceeds the
210,000 metric tonnes target the state had projected for the year.
Activities of rice farmers in Cross
River State have also caught the attention of the CBN, which has
promised to make credit available for massive rice farming there. The
state Governor, Ben Ayade, said it would serve a dual purpose of food
production and job creation.
Significantly, big-time players like
Coscharis Farms and Dangote Farms Limited, noticing the potential in
rice production, have moved in to invest heavily. While Coscharis is
limiting its investment to Anambra, Dangote has spread its tentacles to
Edo, Jigawa, Kebbi, Kwara and Niger states, where Africa’s richest man,
Aliko Dangote, promised a $1 billion worth of investment last year. Both
are also promising to build rice mills, with Dangote targeting Kano and
Coscharis, Anaku in Anambra State.
The massive interest in rice
planting in the country has not come as a surprise. This is a country
that had its foundation on agriculture before the discovery of oil and
gas. Data from World Bank indicate that the country boasted 77.7 per
cent arable land in 2013. Research and availability of rice varieties
have also made it possible for rice to be grown across the length and
breadth of the country, at any time of the year.
To achieve self-sufficiency, the
government has a very important role to play. Apart from guaranteeing
access to soft credit, it has to improve infrastructure, especially
access roads to ensure that products are easily evacuated from the farms
and waste is cut down. Besides, it is equally important to protect the
nascent rice farming culture by making sure smugglers are not allowed to
flood the market with cheap imported rice.
Already, there have been reports of
massive imports by neighbouring countries, targeting the Christmas rush
in Nigeria. They are planning to take advantage of the free trade treaty
of ECOWAS, which guarantees free movement of locally produced goods
among member countries, to bring in imported rice. Apart from hurting
the rice farmers and, by extension, the Nigerian economy, allowing
smugglers to have their way will deny government huge amounts of revenue
in unpaid customs duties. This is certainly not what the country needs
at this crucial stage. It is also believed that pressure is being
mounted by countries such as Thailand, India and Singapore, the world’s
major rice producers, on Nigeria to ease the restriction on imported
rice. While the Nigeria Customs Service should ensure that smugglers are
shut out, the government also has to resist the pressure.
Although started as part of Goodluck
Jonathan’s Agriculture Transformation Agenda, the rice self-sufficiency
programme has received a shot in the arm from the Muhammadu Buhari
administration. While Jonathan’s target of 2015 for self-sufficiency
failed to materialise, it is hoped that, with steadfastness and an
enabling environment for prospective investors, Nigeria’s quest for
producing enough rice for internal consumption and even for export in
2017 will be achievable.
