To many stakeholders, plans by the current administration to make the country self-sufficient in rice production by 2019 though ambitious but doable given the right political will, reports Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf
Rice, yes good old rice is one staple food you can’t miss in any home. The reason of course, is not far to seek.
With an approximate annual demand of between 5 to 6.4 million metric tons a year, Nigeria ranks among the top 12 rice consuming countries in the world.
However, much of this consumption capacity is largely catered to by the importation of rice from other rice-producing countries. Nigeria is currently the second largest importer of rice in the world, and the largest net importer in Africa.
Nigeria spends an estimated N356 billion on importation of rice annually, the bulk of which comes from Thailand. Importers are now turning to India for supplies following the recent reentry of that country into the non-basmati rice trade.
But what if any, is responsible for the nation’s overdependence on import?
Olufemi Amoo, an agric economics offers a plausible explanation.
“The major reason the country is not yet sufficient in rice production is simply because the poor local production is not commensurate with the high consumption pattern,” he said.
Expatiating, he said: “For example, Dangote Industries, the largest rice producer in Nigeria, has a landholding of 100,000 hectares, which barely scrapes the tip of the iceberg of Nigeria’s rice needs – even if it is assumed that 9 tons of rice is produced by each hectare of land annually. This means that, although there is a clear deficiency in Nigeria’s rice-production regime, an opportunity in this problem can also be found.”
Past experience
Under the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) of the previous administration, tremendous achievement in rice production went beyond what could be wished away as millions of additional metric tons of food were added to local supplies and with rice experiencing a significant increase.
Although the Federal Government also increased the levy paid on imported rice ostensibly to curb importations with a view to outright ban in a few years, no effort was being made to encourage or develop local production just as the rice development fund was not being deployed anywhere.
But despite the positive effects of the backward integration policy, following the exit of Adesina as minister of the agric sector, the bureaucrats that took over from him drafted a new allocation that excluded rice producers, and only favoured rice millers. A situation, millers considered antithetical to their existence and which they reckoned could lead to a further decline in Nigeria’s domestic rice production capacity.
Buhari’s strategic plan for rice production
The present administration under President Muhammadu Buhari has declared that the nation’s quest for self-sufficiency in rice production will soon be realised going by the by the standard and quality of rice locally produced as well as level of commitment and vision demonstrated by local rice farmers and millers.
Thankfully, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, has said Nigeria will be self-sufficient in rice production in three years if all hands are on deck.
The minister, who assured that the Federal Government was committed to ending the importation of rice and other agricultural products
“This can be made possible only if Nigerians must recognise that agriculture is no longer a seasonal but an all-year-round activity which must involve every Nigerian, both during the rainy and dry seasons.”
The minister lamented the fact that Nigeria was importing everything and denying employment to the over 100 million youth population.
“We are importing palm oil, groundnut oil, fish, and smuggling chicken poisoned with formaldehyde, among several others. Nigeria directly or indirectly has empowered foreign economies to take Nigeria hostage; and trying to free ourselves now is a tug of war,” he said. “Help us tell Nigerians that the time has come for all of us to get involved.”
Ogbeh expressed delight at the collapse of oil, saying it would allow Nigeria to focus on sustainable development.
Ogbeh said, “So we are going to go through some tough times, but the truth is we must learn to produce or perish; there is no half way out. We can’t keep shifting things around. Where are the jobs? Almost 100 million Nigerians are below 50; it’s a young society and when some of us talk about it, they say we are old and won’t be around, but on the other hand I have grandchildren and when I am gone, there will be pieces of me left and I do not want my country to perish because after I have lived my life and died, I want it to be better.”
Chief Ogbeh assured that there were to be no policy somersaults in the present government as they were committed to continuing with the E-Wallet /GES scheme, though he lamented the challenges of continuing fertilizer distribution as a result of failure of the states to meet up with the 25 per cent counterpart funding.
Private initiative to the rescue
One of the local companies that is giving hope to the government’s determined realisation of the self sufficiency in rice is Pearl Universal Impex Limited, a major importer of rice in the country that has now invested in local rice production and milling in Niger state.
The chairman of the company, Pulkit Jain, disclosed that the company has been a major importer of rice in the country with imports of 350,000 metric tonnes of rice annually in the past, but chose to invest in cultivation and milling of scientifically tested, high yielding varieties of rice in order to achieve the Federal Government’s target of achieving self-sufficiency in rice production.
He said to underline their commitment that the company in June this year started a pilot scheme to determine the variety of rice most suitable to the region at a 500 hectares of land in Saminaka, a community situated around Swashi Dam in Borgu local council.
The Pearl Universal Impex’s model, he explained , combines a commercial farm with a programme that works with nearby farmers, called out-growers, allowing the company greater control over its product while still leaving room to foster and train local small-scale farmers in rice production.
To this end, Jain revealed that $100million (N200bn) will be committed to the cultivation of 7,500 hectares of rice farm and construction of two rice mills in the state in the next three years.
He said the move was predicated on the successful rice yield of seven metric tonnes per hectare at the trial phase of the project, adding that the company will now move to another 2000 hectares of land for cultivation this December.
Jain added that the firm’s focus will be primarily on dry season farming as it was easier to manage, even as the company intends to grow rice three times a year on the land.
While pointing out that the equipment for the next phase of the project had already been shipped and would berth in the shores of Nigeria any time in January 2016, Jain explained that the company has not spared any effort in training the local farmers on the scientific method of cultivating rice in order to get a better yield, adding that at the moment, there were 100 workers in the company’s employ that have been well trained.
Speaking during a visit to the new Emir of Borgu, Mohammed Sanni, the company’s boss commended the new Emir for the harmonious relationship between the company and community. Jain informed the monarch that the local farmers using their leased land for farming purposes had never been forcefully ejected from the place, but that it was a deliberate policy of the company to employ and train them instead of out rightly asking them to give up the land whenever there was the need for the company to use more land for cultivation.
Jain said the company has challenges in the areas of access road to its farm and also the near- absence of network services for effective communication and the technical know-how of the community.
He therefore called on the government to intervene adding that a support from government in terms access to loans from banks like the Bank of Agriculture and the Bank of Industry (BoI) would greatly help to speed up development in the area.
Reacting, the new Emir of Borgu, Mohammed Sanni, urged the government to support rice farmers and millers in order to realise the value chain on the commodity, while commending the PJS for the project in his domain.
“Many firms came here and indicated interest in thought commitment. This PJS came and indicated stronger commitment and went into action immediately. We want the Government to support firms like PJS that goes out of their way to invest in agricultural backward integration policy. This place is very remote/far from the city which is more than six hours drive from Minna and PJS is ready to do business here,” the Emir noted with delight.
Alhaji Mohammed noted with joy that the villagers have benefited immensely from capacity building of the firm in term of knowledge, High tech in advanced rice farming and handling High tech machines.
“We will support the company to consolidate in growth. They will not regret coming this way.”
Like Pearl Universal Impex Limited, Rotimi Williams of Kereksuk Rice Farm, the second largest rice production company in country is also doing his bit to ensure that becomes more self-dependent in rice its domestic production capacity.
While commenting on what he described as the recent ‘rice revolution’ led by Nigeria’s former Minister for Agriculture and President of the African Development Bank, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, Williams said the initiative allowed stakeholders in the farming process, from the rice producers to the millers, to benefit from the 2014/2015 rice allocation.
He is also convinced that the decision by the Central Bank of Nigeria to plug many of the leakages and loopholes that lead to decreased revenues in the country, especially ban of rice importers from accessing forex is indeed heartwarming.
This situation, according to Williams, is meant to encourage more investment and participation in the domestic production sector. Nevertheless, although such policies are helpful, Williams states that a more thorough understanding of the rice market would help Nigeria yield more in that sector.
“The issues of insufficient rice production in Nigeria cannot simply be narrowed down to rice importation,” Williams said. “But a failure to fully understand the rice value chain and address the issues that affect the value chain.”
He also holds the view and very strongly too that opportunities exists for Nigeria to take charge of its rice consumption capacity, reveals that if the CBN is willing to address the entire funding of the entire rice value chain, and not just ban the importation of rice, long-term sustainable systems can be formed that will contribute to Nigeria’s rice market and the economy in general.
