Ban on import: Price of rice, other food items up in Kebbi

Following the closure of land borders to importation of rice and other goods the prices of rice and other food items have jumped up in Birnin Kebbi.

When our correspondent visited some shops at the Birnin Kebbi Central Market and the metropolis it was observed that a bag of Tomato branded of rice, which was being sold for N12,000 has jumped to N15,000, while Labana brand rice now costs N16,000 against the N14,000 it was going for.

Also prices of other items such as tomato paste, spaghetti, macaroni, vegetable oils have gone up by almost 50 percent.

However, rice farmers in the state on Tuesday said the closure of the land borders by government was a blessing to them as it would boost local production and increase their profit margin.

While speaking to our correspondent the chairman of Rice Farmers Association in the state, Alhaji Muhammad Sahabi Augie said the border closure was a good development for the farmers particularly rice farmers in the state.

He said farmers have been producing rice and other farm produce at a loss because of the influx of foreign rice and other goods.

He stated that a bag of paddy was sold for as low as N7,000 because of influx of foreign rice into the country through the land borders.

“No farmer can sell at that price with high the cost of production and make profit.

“Now that the land borders have been closed the price of local rice has jumped up to between N9,000 and 10,000 per bag,” he said.

The RIFAN state chairman while commending the federal government for what he called bold measure it took to encourage production of local rice and other food commodities, said farmers could now produce more rice and other food items locally.