Nigerian Agricultural Development: learning to eat what we produce and produce what we will eat-a case of Nigerian Rice.

Dr. Akin Adesina with Ebony Rice

Rice Farm in Kebbi

The sustainability of Nigeria Agriculture is germane to the drive  towards food self-sufficiency. Food insecurity and poverty are two problems globally recognized as the bane of development and global peace, especially in Africa with greater percentage of under nourished and the poor. Nigeria today is confronted with the challenge with  huge import bill of feeding over 172 million people.

Before the advent of the current administration, the import bill on rice, wheat and sugar alone was $6.89 billion; good money that should have gone into some other public projects and infrastructures.

Umza in Kano, Danmodi in Jigawa and Miva from Benue

The sustained food import bill of a population like that of Nigeria will not do the country any good because it erodes the substantial portion of the foreign reserve and employment opportunities are exported to other countries. No nation has ever survived on food importation and neither will that be a good driver for any economic growth; especially in a country with very great potentials to feed her people.

The Agricultural Transformation Agenda of the current government made some giant strides in developing the local capacities and markets for major agricultural commodities; through provision of right environment and whereby agriculture is driven as business rather than development programmes. The policy of ATA gives support for financial windows/low interest rates and facilitates partnerships among stakeholders and government at national and sub national levels.

Product of Women Group in Niger

The Rice industry is one of the few that actually experienced giant leap in this dispensation and putting Nigeria on its way to attaining self sufficiency in Rice production. Achievements to date include:

        1.  The introduction of the improved varieties of long grain rice, (farrow 44, 52, 52, L34 and L19) which can compare with all other international standards.

         2..  Increase of 7 million metric tonnes of rice paddy in 4 years of intervention.

        3.  The national demand gap has been closed by 45%, from 2.6m MT IN 2011 to 1.5m MT in 2015.

           4.   Increase in land area cultivated from 2.5m ha in 2011 to 3.8m ha in 2014.

         5. There are over 20 brands of Nigeria grown, milled and packaged rice in the market and the no is still growing; in addition, there are also small, micro village level processors.

          6.   About 1.74 million jobs have been created in the value chain

          7.      The new investment in rice production has shut up to $2.6 billion, (FMARD, 2015).

The above strides could only be sustained if and only if we as people are determined to consume and create market for this and other commodities. Buying and eating foreign rice will negatively affect our economy and hinder socio-economic development. Jobs are not retained here but exported to these countries that are always quick to say that things like, ‘Nigeria is the hub of African market’, ‘the population is a huge market in itself’, e.t.c.; but sadly; we never take the full advantage of this.

Lobi Rice

Queen of the Niger & Sanraniya

We are not doing enough to actually open windows of opportunities for ourselves with the great potentials. The government has a lot to do in this regard but much more rest with us as the governed; because we are still not patriotic enough to have Nigerian rice on our menu and shopping list in order to encourage more of local production and attract the level of investment required. The related issue is the fact that we still find it difficult to adjust to ‘change’; including our taste.

Paradoxically, many times some of us travel out and are left with not too many alternative choices of food but certain strange ones which we are forced to eat; we must do the same here for the sake of our dear country. It is worthy of note to state that, most of the imported rice have sometimes stayed for far above 10 to 15 years in their country’s strategic reserves. Let us eat what we produce and produce what we eat; doing this, we keep jobs within our country, ensure food security, save foreign exchange, earn more foreign exchange from export in the medium to long term and improve rural economy. In the last 3 years, I have not taken any other rice except the rich, fresh and nutritious Nigerian rice of any brand. This is a clarion call we must all hearken to! Join me on the table!