Rice, as one of the most consumed staple food in an average Nigerian home, with a consumption per capita of 32kg, has had a continuous high demand which local production failed to meet. Given the case, we had to increase in rice importation so as to meet the increasing demand. Though this seemed sensible at first yet the effect it has on smallholder and subsistent rice farmers and the nation’s foreign exchange was probably not given due consideration. In the past six years, the Federal Government has prioritized boosting rice production; whether or not it is effort is yielding tangible results is the main focus of this piece.
Before 2015, Nigeria spent billions of naira in importing shiploads of rice especially from Thailand. The implications of this were- rice farmers became poorer as they did not get the much needed attention from the government. A bag of rice then could barely fund a bag of fertilizer. Hence rice farming was commonly seen as an occupation for the poor and jobless in the society. It was not in any way lucrative. In addition, rice importation further drained our foreign exchange reserve.
To correct this wrong, President Muhammadu Buhari on assuming office, pledged to help boost the country’s agriculture by ensuring ‘we grow what we eat and eat what we grow’. And by extension, he initiated the process to make Nigeria self-sufficient in rice production. His words became actualised with the launching of the Anchor Borrowers Program (ABP) through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); a program designed to boost agricultural yields, halt large volumes of food importation and address negative trade balance.
As a result of the ABP, Nigeria has witnessed a consistent growth in rice production. In 2017, Nigeria produced 4,536 million tonnes of rice; 4,470m tonnes in 2018; 4,538m tonnes in 2019; 5,040m tonnes as of July, 2020, and about nine million metric tonnes as of the end of 2021.
According to the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele as at the end of December 2021, the apex bank had financed 4,489,786 farmers that cultivated 5,300,411 hectares across 21 commodities through 23 Participating Financial Institutions (PFI) in the 36 States of the Federation and the FCT. Our national output have increased from about 5.4 million metric tonnes in 2015 to over nine million metric tonned in 2021 and productivity per hectare of the smallholder farmer has improved from about 2.4 metric tonnes per hectare in 2015 to about 5 metric tonnes per hectare in 2021.
The Integrated Rice Mills is not left out in this development. The number of rice mills have grown significantly from six in 2015 to over fifty in 2021 and many more are in various stages of completion.
Also, rice importation has successfully been curtailed as seen in the incremental reduction. Thailand which exported 1.3 million metric tonnes of rice to Nigeria in 2014, exported 58,000 metric tonnes in 2016 and 2,160 metric tonnes as at the end of 2021. This is not to mention the number of jobs that have been created and preserved.
All these are resultant effects of President Buhari’s rice revolution realised through the ABP. This is what has translated into the mega rice pyramids recently unveiled in the Federal Capital Territory. The 13 pyramids comprising one million bags each represents the aggregated paddy rice submitted as repayment of loans by members of the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) under the 2020 dry season and 2021 wet seasons.
Some State Governors have keyed into the President’s rice revolution which is yielding tremendous results in their States. Noteable amongst these governors is the governor of Ekiti State kayode Fayemi who spoke intelligently at the unveiling of the rice pyramid. He noted that thanks to President Buhari, farmers now make money to cater for their needs and for their families. He emphasised that the job is not yet done, “We will continue to work until rice becomes available and affordable to ordinary Nigerians”.
His counterpart, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, Governor of Kebbi State, who spoke after him added that rice farmers now have better life; farmers gain about 400 thousand per hectare per cropping season. On the issue of high cost of food items with regards to rice, he added that it is a global phenomenon and Nigeria has not done worse that other nations.
In the same vein, the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) in a statement noted that “no President in the history of Nigeria had done this ever before. Not only has rice revolution been achieved in the country, for the first time in Nigeria and Sub-Sahara Africa, smallholder and subsistent farmers have been targeted and empowered to become commercial farmers.
“Farmers are no longer destitutes”. We now have millionaire farmers that are responsible and responsive, taking advantage of government interventions to boost their local production.
The group opined that with time, “more rice will be delivered to the market leading to a reduction in price. We believe that in the next few years, we will have no need to import rice into the country, rather, we will be a rice exporting nation”, BMO added.
