Foreign rice threatens Nigeria’s rising domestic production

Despite rising Nigeria domestic rice production profile, imported and smuggled rice continue to make consumers first choice in the market and it’s everywhere, investigations by Daily Trust on Sunday have revealed.

Domestic rice production received a boost when President Muhammadu Buhari launched the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme in Kebbi State in November 2015 to address the huge import problem.

Current statistics in the public domain indicates that in 2016, 58, 260 metric tonnes of rice was imported into the country and that by November 2017, the figures have dropped to 23,192 metric tonnes; this figures further shrink to just 6, 277 metric tonnes in 2018.

However, despite that figures of local production and various brands in the market, many wonders where all the foreign rice that floods the country comes from even with the official ban on rice importation through the land borders.

Daily Trust, Sunday 10, March

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