Deputy State Chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria, Lagos Chapter, Mr. Shakin Agbayewa, has predicted the nationwide crash of the price of Nigeria’s most popular staple food, rice, in the next six months.
According to him, gone are the days when large quantities of local rice only come from the northern part of the country, saying rice farmers from virtually all parts of the country have now taken up the challenge.
He added that it was no longer news that Dangote had acquired a large expanse of land in Ogun State for rice farming and that even Coscharis, the car dealer, was also bringing in large quantities of rice from the Southeastern part to Lagos.
Agbayewa, who based his prediction on the expected bumper harvest this year, stated that with the commitment of AFAN members across the country in cultivation of the produce, there was no reason for the price not to crash.
There are already developments in different parts of the country by rice farmers to ensure that Nigeria achieves self-sufficiency in rice production and stop importation of the product.
The AFAN Lagos State Deputy Chairman, who spoke as a special guest at a Stakeholders’ Forum on impacts of border closure on Nigeria’s economy, praised the Federal Government for sustaining the closure, saying it had greatly helped local farmers, especially rice farmers.
According to him, “Many states across the country are providing land for farming, especially for rice farming and I expect this to translate into bumper harvest nationwide in the next six months.”
Noting that rice was Nigeria’s most widely consumed staple food, he disclosed that in Lagos alone, 36 tons of rice was consumed per hour. According to him, “The figure is mind blowing when you multiply it by 24 hours in a day, seven days in a week, four weeks in a month, etc. It is a multi-billion naira project.”
He commended the Federal Government for the closure of Nigeria’s land borders, saying that it had helped local farmers to grow more food crops as they were easily able to sell their produce and make better living for themselves.
“As far as we (local) farmers are concerned, the borders could be closed forever so that we can grow what we eat and eat what we grow. We should stop spending trillions of naira on food importation every year. Nigeria has almost 80 per cent of arable land and we can no longer afford the luxury of importing virtually every food item on our dinner table. This land must be put into cultivation and we must eat what we grow. Look, it nauseates me each time I pick up the newspapers to read how much we spend on the importation of rice every year. This must stop,” he said.
According to Agbayewa, the greatest challenge facing rice farmers is the cost of land clearance and government should assist farmers in this area.
He said, “It takes about N150, 000 to hire a tractor per day for land clearance and this takes a large chunk of the farmer’s capital outlay. We appeal to the federal and state governments to assist rice farmers, especially in the area of land clearance.
“The Federal Government could encourage rice farming by providing some incentive in the form of grants or soft loans to farmers, while state governments could earmark large portions of land in the states for rice farming. They could then enter with their tractors and clear the land and then apportion the land to small holder rice farmers.”
