My people, you don hear wetin dey happen for rice market? So Baba Government don gather sharp guys wey sabi agribusiness and dem don recommend make we close the rice import door. Na massive rice, about 2.4 million metric tonnes, we dey import every year, and e don cost us over N1 trillion! Make we reason am, sabi that ting no good for our economy. Wetin we dey do with all this wahala?
The agribusiness policy committee talk say na high import volume dey give us rice surplus, not say our local farmers dey produce well. E be like say we dey chop foreign rice pass our own! If we carry rice from Thailand, it go cost us about $888 million. If na India, it go just be $832.8 million. But e be like say na so we go dey spend our money, no be small. No be money we suppose dey use to support our own farmers?
Last year, we fit produce 6.07 million metric tonnes of rice, but still import another 2.4 million to meet up demand. Na so we dey run this show! No be say rice dey everywhere, but na di foreign rice we go still dey import. That one dey show say our farmers still need help. Dem talk say for every positive balance we see, some staples like rice and wheat dey suffer from imported goods.
As we gather for Abuja, dem talk say food inflation don drop below 14 per cent and e mean say na time to shut those rice import doors. The National Agribusiness Policy Mechanism don launch since May 2025; e hope to coordinate our food and agriculture policies well. The committee think say if we close the import window, it go help local farmers make dem flourish instead of dey face tough competition from foreign rice.
But make I no dey lie, the reality be say local farmers don dey complain about how dem no dey fit meet market demands. Dem dey lose money as costs dey rise while output prices dey fall sharply. This one no good at all for our farmers, especially wetin dem dey feel for rice and maize markets. Dem talk say if the government no fit protect dem, e go make many farmers dey rethink their production plans.
The situation no dey funny o! As some rice farmers dey plan to reduce their output for the coming season, dem dey shift to others crops like vegetables and wheat wey get better profit margins. The committee don also warn say if things no change, we go dey face supply risks for rice in future, even if we dey enjoy current surplus. Wetin go be our fate?
Current policies fit change, but no be all the time we dey focus on imports without help for our farmers. Dama, the chairman of Competitive African Rice Forum Nigeria, don talk say those cheap imported rice dey kill our local production. Wetin we go do? If we continue like this, how our agricultural sector wan survive? Dem don report say imports don cost Nigeria N2.22 trillion in just half a year nko?
The Minister of State for Agriculture don yan say dem go enforce measures to make sure food prices go down. But wetin be the solution? Shouldn’t we sit down with the local stakeholders to find common ground instead of just shouting orders from government side?
As e be now, we dey try balance the rice equation, but the way forward no dey clear. Wetin you think, my people? We gree to close import market completely, or we still wan dey bring rice from outside? Na wetin go be our advantage in this matter?
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