FG advised against Plan to Ban Rice Importation
About 42% of rice needed in the country are imported. Statistic shows that out of the 50 million metric tonnes of rice being consumed in the country annually, 21 million was
imported from China, India and Thailand.
Alhaji Nura Attajiri, A large scale rice farmer and the Managing Director, Attajiri Rice Mill in Sokoto state appealed to the Government to review the proposal of placing ban on rice importation
According to Nura the plan is not sustainable and can be counter productive. Pointing out that local production of rice was low in the country as local farmers can not meet the consumption demand.
“As a large scale rice farmer that has been in the business since 1983 and also engaged in irrigation farming all year round, I know the negative effects of importation of rice on the economy. But the truth of the matter is that banning importation of rice in 2015 without commensurate local production would be counter productive.
“Most of the people that collect agricultural loans from government for paddy rice production are not genuine farmers. I strongly believe that it will take some time for Nigerian farmers to meet local demand and this can be achieved only if government is determined to put in mechanisms to ensure that only genuine farmers are empowered,” he said.
Alhaji Nura stated that government need to sensitise the youths on the need to embarace farming and see it as a profitable venture. He called for regular and deeper capacity building mechanism for farmers on how to use fertilizer effectively.
He advised the Federal Government to provide incentives and empower small, medium and large scale farmers in order to achieve the desired targets.
Attajiri said to this end, government should empower local producers and processers of rice with loans, grants and other forms of assistance to produce more.
