The Chairman, Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) Lagos State chapter, Shakin Agbayewa has said that the price of the Nigerian grown rice will drop from between N15, 000 and N17, 000 it currently sold to N10, 000 per bag before September 2020.
Agbayewa who disclosed this at the stakeholders Forum on Land Border Closure held in Lagos on Tuesday by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) with support from the Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) however pleaded for the understanding of Nigerians over the current disposition.
He said, “But in all sincerity and in my own submission, I want to tell us that please just pardon us. The price of rice will drop before September. Right now, we have between N15, 000 and N17, 000 per bag, it has changed and it can still change but before September, we will do N10, 000.”
While stating that farmers especially the rice farmers were enjoying the border closure within the short period it has lasted, he noted that while the border closure was not going to last for eternity, he would have wished the borders remained permanently shut to enable them get return on their investments.
Agbayewa who is also the Deputy Chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) Lagos State chapter observed that statistics showed that most of the rice being imported into Nigeria came through the Lagos state border saying that 62% of those rice stay in Lagos which was an indication that Lagos was a huge market of rice.
“And we have discovered that in a year, we do 7 million metric tonnes but I am not going to take that statistics, you know why? That statistics says we grow 5.2 million while we import 2 million and I said no, we import 5 million and we grow 2.2 million because at any point in time, we fight to compete with foreign rice. But right now, the narrative is seriously changing, if I may shock you, that as I talk to you now, we no longer have rice paddy in Nigeria. The rice paddy is what you milled into rice; all the rice paddies have been milled over the festive period.
“I will not want to mention the names of the companies, they were telling us we should give them rice paddy and I was like upon all these 93, 000 hectares of lands cultivated, you are still asking us for rice paddy, which means there is a huge market for rice in Nigeria. So, that is why I want to appeal to our policy makers, that please if there is a way they can still lock down that market, please lock it down for us”, he said.
Even as he argued that Nigerian rice were better than foreign rice as they (foreign rice) were poisonous, Agbayewa pointed out that this was so because “they have polished all the vitamins and nutrients out of it, from being a brown rice to white rice because they have a longer shelf life and because of the economic advantage.
“So, which means, most of these rice being imported into this country might last for five years to six years, even expired ones and these are the ones we are consuming but there is no way we will mill rice in Nigeria that will last six months in your shelf which means by eating Nigerian rice, we are eating fresh rice compared to foreign rice and we now advocate that please let us eat brown rice, the brown one is healthier.
“The browner your rice, the healthier it is for you because there is vitamins, there is minerals, there is fibre and everything in it but today we are used to this foreign rice which is white rice and that is why you see the doctor telling diabetic patient, don’t eat rice, it will increase your sugar level whereas if you eat brown rice, it is healthier. So, we are now telling us, please all the leaders in this place, let us start advocacy that brown rice is better than white rice and brown rice is Nigerian rice and that is good for our body.”
On the impact of the land border closure on the rice industry in Nigeria, the RIFAN Chairman maintained that the exercise has boost rice production alongside it value chain as people will cultivate, people will mill the rice, people will produce the sacks for bagging the rice, people will print on the sack, people will bag the rice and people will distribute the rice, all translating to employment for Nigerians within the shores of the country.
He continued, “This is part of what customs is fighting because when they bring white rice into Nigeria, you now found out that it is already bagged, someone else is bagging it, which means that money is going to another economy, someone else if printing on that sack, that money is going to another economy but once you have that remain within Nigerian setting, you have people going to printing, you have people going to bag manufacturing, you have people going to logistics, you have people to haulage.”
On the areas of assistance to rice farmers, Agbayewa stated, “I am happy LCCI is doing this, please help us to advocate to the Nigerian government, we need good seedlings. At times when I see our people in government churning out policies, they should engage us first before releasing it because we are in the field, we know what is obtainable. Government should please do something for us, everywhere in the world; it is always the association of small holders that holds the economy of that place even the SMEs. The major problem of we the farmers right now, mostly rice farmers is what we called clearing of the bush because if I should come in with D7 a day N160,000 and I want to clear one hectare and they said they want to work for ten days, calculate N160,000 for ten days, which means my money is gone.”
Send your news, press releases/articles to augustinenwadinamuo@yahoo.com. Also, follow us on Twitter @ptreporters and on Facebook on facebook.com/primetimereporters or call the editor on 07030661526, 08053908817.
