No fewer than 12 million Nigerians have gone into rice production, significantly reducing the rate of unemployment in two years.
The impact of the Federal Government’s interventions in rice sector has resulted into job creation, increase in wealth, while reducing migration from rural to urban areas.
President Muhammadu Buhari, who made this known, during the week, said as at July, the number of rice farmers has increased by 12 million.
He spoke in Abuja, at the fourth Nigeria Rice Investment Forum on ‘Effective Linkage of Actor and Effort in the Value Chain for Sustained Self-Sufficiency in Rice Production.’
The president, who was represented by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, said it was important to encourage more people into farming in order to attain self-sufficiency in rice production.
The Rice Farmers Association (RIFAN) has five million members. The number of people working in the rice mills, small or big, is over 1.7 million. These include harvesters, loaders, off loaders, transporters, and distributors.
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