Border Closure: Rice Growers Population Inches to 18m, Says FG
Olawale Ajimotokan
The federal government has projected the number of people cultivating rice in the country to hit 18 million from next year amid the disputes with its West African neighbours on the closure of its land borders to stem smuggling of the staple.
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made the estimation yesterday in Kano during a courtesy call on Governor Abdulahi Ganduje of Kano State.
Mohammed led a delegation comprising the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Sabo Nanono and the Sector 4 Coordinator, Assistant Comptroller General, Mr Bashir Abubakar on a tour of some integrated rice mills in Kano.
The tour, which was to assess the impact of the border closure on the entire rice production value chain, saw them visiting the Al-Hamsad Rice Mill, Kura Brothers Rice Mill, Tiamin Rice Limited and Umza International Farms.
The number of people into rice farming in the country, according to the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), is 12.2million.
The minister, however, said that the number could be surpassed as at least six million youths are now venturing into rice farming, while many farmers had started three-times-a-year cultivation in order to meet the increasing demand for the staple.
“It means that we could hit 18 million rice farmers in no time if the present trend continues. And this is a positive fallout of the border drill,” Mohammed declared.
He noted that the closure has reduced smuggled rice and given the entire rice production value chain a new lease of life. “Currently, the integrated mills now produce about 150,000 bags of rice every day, translating to 35 million bags annually. In addition, the 34 mills are expanding rapidly in order to increase capacity and meet the rising demands. More mills are also springing up in all parts of the country. Also, the small scale rice clusters in all parts of the country are now back on stream and feeding their local communities, and the farmers are the biggest beneficiaries,” Mohammed said.
He stressed they chose to visit Kano because the state has the highest number of integrated mills in the country, noting that out of the 34 integrated mills in the country Kano State alone has 11, in addition to 20 rice clusters.
“An estimated 5,000 metric tonnes of finished rice are turned out daily by the 11 integrated mills and 20 clusters in Kano. The ratio is 40 per cent from the integrated mills and 60 per cent from the clusters. The mills, combined, employ about 10,000 people. We can tell you, without mincing words that the border drill has impacted positively on rice production in the country,” Mohammed said.
In his remarks Ganduje described the border closure as a right political decision by the Buhari administration.
He scorned the previous administration for not closing the border because of the economic benefits that some people were deriving from it.