There are a number of issues that we have to look at if we want to stop the importation of rice. One, what is the proportion of the rice we are eating locally now? Two, what is on the ground to enable us to close that gap between the rice we are importing and what we are consuming?
We need not to just have a plan to cultivate and harvest, we also need to have successive plans and build capacities. We need to have a marketing system that ensures sustainability.
We need to have the quantity of local rice that matches imported rice. The quantity must also be commensurate. Now, can we do all of that within two years? My answer is that I doubt it. Most of our farmers will tell you that much of the support needed from the government is not got on time. This is a strategic programme in which we have to look at the whole value chain.
Another area is the issue of credit being available and the issue of rice seedlings to be used by the farmers. The government should also be looking at incentives for farmers and managing agricultural transportation.
Efforts of growing rice production must also be entrepreneurial. People can put their money into it and they can expect profit. The Federal Government has to provide incentives to producers. They have to ensure that access to credit is made a lot easier. They also have to provide an agricultural extension service.
The process should not be allowed to be hijacked by importers. The government must come up with predictable policies. People should rest assured that they could set up a rice-processing mill and expect to make profit. Therefore, there must be a clear-cut commitment on the part of the government.
- Charles Ugwuh (Chairman, Tara Agro Rice Millers)
Stoppage of rice importation can be done. We must not keep opening the doors to import rice. If we do that, we will kill local investments. Once we determine that we are going to grow our own capacity, we must close the doors and allow the indigenous farmers to grow.
They will make mistakes and also correct their mistakes. They will achieve a fairly stable price and make rice available in the market place. If we are in a hurry to get comfort and bring rice from Thailand, Brazil and other countries, we will not be able to grow our own rice.
The government needs to use fiscal and tariff measures, and control importation or stop it completely. Our local people will then seize the opportunity to grow rice locally.
Nigerians are growing rice now more than ever. People are investing heavily in rice production. Kebbi farmers earlier in the year made a lot of money when scarcity of rice was recorded.
Therefore, we must allow farmers, investors and rice millers to expand their capacities. We have all the ecology to do that more than any other part of the world.
Nigeria has a very good soil, which aids massive rice production. My answer is yes. We can use fiscal policy measures and import bans to prevent competition and locally grow rice sufficiently.
- Wale Oyekoya (Director, Bama Farms, Lagos State)
It is possible to stop rice importation by next year if the Federal Government takes decisive steps. Too much importation is one of the reasons why we are even in a recession, whereby we are spending over N1bn every day on the importation of rice into the country.
With what we are seeing, there is a very good picture coming from states producing rice locally like Kebbi, Ebonyi, Adamawa, Niger and others. I believe stopping importation of rice is possible if the government can sustain the present momentum.
Our problem has been policy somersault, whereby the government changes from policy to policy. For example, the authorities of the Nigeria Customs Service need to get stakeholders involved on this. The government needs to come up with farmer-oriented policies to achieve the stoppage of importation.
Definitely, it is achievable if the state and local governments also carry out their own responsibilities. One of the steps to be taken by the federal and state governments to make this work for the Nigerian farmers includes encouraging farmers financially.
Much of the money into agriculture goes to state-controlled farms, while subsistent farmers are neglected. So, the federal and state governments have to channel the money appropriately. They must procure equipment for mechanised farming.
Farmers should also not be subjected to producing without creating ready markets to take their produce. So, the government needs to focus on this. Farmers need to be given improved seedlings, fertilisers and other necessities. This will help our economy and also provide more job opportunities. I believe rice importation can stop by next year if all these things are done.
Professor Kolawole Adebayo (Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State)
Technically, it is feasible to stop rice importation. What do you require to produce a good crop of rice? You need good land. You need good varieties. Luckily, we have the ‘Ofada’ and ‘Abakaliki’ rice, which are very popular varieties.
To start with, we need dedicated farmers and Nigeria has them. There are only a few things that are missing presently, which if fixed, then we can really put our minds off importation.
One, we need an agricultural extension service. What we have now is already collapsing. The job of the extension service is to train farmers on how to go about rice production. This service is available in our research institutes and in universities. The knowledge has to leave the institutes and universities and go to the farmers who need it.
In every state in Nigeria, you have the Agriculture Development Programme. It was established in the 1980s through a World Bank-assisted scheme. Many of the good hands, who left the programme, need to be replaced. We also need to be target-driven. We have 180m Nigerians who feed on rice practically every day.
If we allot a quarter of a kilo to everybody per day, that gives you the idea of the area of land that should be committed to rice production.
Two, there should be investments in transport infrastructure. We know that many of our rural roads are bad. If we produce rice and we cannot move them out of the farms, it is also a problem.
The third area is storage. Once we produce the rice, we need to be able to store it, so that we can have rice all year. So, we need storage facilities to make this achievable.
- Akai Egwuonwu (Chief Executive Officer, Stine Industries/rice producer in Anambra State)
It is feasible and achievable for Nigeria to stop the importation of rice. With the level of cultivation we did this year and with the farmers, who sold very well, Nigeria is on track. This will encourage more farmers to go into it.
As long as there is more rice cultivated, we can achieve it. So far, the price of rice has not gone up locally. If you go to every market, it is the same. But, there is a big cartel that has so much money and is sabotaging the efforts to stop rice importation. It is not true as they claim that we cannot stop importing rice.
What the government needs to do is to create an enabling environment for the farmers and the millers. This will help to stabilise the industry. An average miller should know what the government is planning and the borders should not be porous.
Therefore, there must be constant consultation and the government should not just come up with policies without adequate consultation. In the meantime, the government needs to create such an atmosphere where there would be monitoring. A lot also has to be done on power generation. Rice millers are beset with the problem of power generation.
