Millers pledge support for rice self-sufficiency … Lament surge in rice smuggling

The group declared their support recently in Abuja during a stakeholders’ round table with the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina. A statement by the Special Assistant to the minister on media, Olukayode Oyeleye, said the group identified the significant change that has taken place in the rice economy in Nigeria, the […]

The group declared their support recently in Abuja during a stakeholders’ round table with the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina.
A statement by the Special Assistant to the minister on media, Olukayode Oyeleye, said the group identified the significant change that has taken place in the rice economy in Nigeria, the great prospects for locally produced rice and the setback that smuggling activities have been causing to the full realisation of the goal of self sufficiency in rice production.
The Chairman of UMZA Rice, who doubles as Chairman of the Integrated Millers Group, Hon. Mohammed Abubakar, on behalf of his group, expressed gratitude to the minister for the untiring efforts to free Nigeria from the shackles of import dependency in rice.
According to Abubakar, “the rice processors of Nigeria are 100 per cent behind the Honourable Minister’s agricultural transformation agenda.”
Hon. Abubakar who stated that, “the problems facing rice business are enormous,” outlined them as production of paddy, availability, price, transportation, storage, seed companies’ dubious activities, marketing as well as weights and measures. He advocated more involvement of research and development activities in boosting rice production.
“The father of all problems,” Abubakar disclosed, is smuggling. “Smuggling, today, is our challenge. It affects the small millers, integrated millers, the whole value chain and the national economy,” he stated.
Abubakar added that, “of the 20 rice-laden ships expected in Cotonou port this November, 13 ships, carrying 350,000 tonnes of rice are ready to berth. This is aside from the 20,000 tonnes rice load of ship that berthed in October.”
“This is really killing us,” he lamented while wondering how many tonnes of rice are actually consumed in Benin Republic.
The minister, in his response, expressed the urgent need to have a strong rural economic development, and stressed that rice could be used to drive rural economic activities.
On importation and smuggling, he said that “rice from Thailand is actually being dumped on Nigeria. You are not dealing with a situation of fair competition, but one of dumping.”
Dr. Adesina announced a number of measures, mutually agreed to by the millers, that would sustainably grow and develop the rice industry in Nigeria on a sustainable basis, beginning with short term measures over a four-year period.
Some measures agreed to for implementation include loan guarantees for the bulking and aggregation activities, market support to bridge the price at aggregation centres, computerisation of aggregation activities, adjustment of tariffs and levies to give local producers, processors and marketers more competitive advantage over importers, and support for research and development.