The Senate Committee on Agriculture, on Wednesday in Abuja, has said about two million metric tonnes of rice is currently being imported or smuggled into the country. This is just as the committee disclosed that in 2021, the production of milled rice in Nigeria was estimated to amount to five million metric tonnes.
Vice-Chairman of the Committee, Muhammad Enagi, disclosed this at the meeting with the multi-stakeholder group on Rice Council advocacy Bill promotion.
The interactive meeting was organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)-Global Environment Facility (GEF), in collaboration with Women Farmers Advancement Network, (WOFAN), among others.
Enagi stated that Nigerias rice rose from 3.7 million metric tonnes in 2017 to 5.0 metric tonnes in 2021. According to him, Despite this, 6.7 million metric tonnes of rice is consumed in Nigeria annually, resulting in a deficit of about two million metric tonnes, which is either imported or smuggled illegally into the country.
He further stated that he sponsored a Bill to establish the National Rice Development Council of Nigeria, to provide guidance on the rice research, comprehensive development of the rice sector and the organisation of the rice stakeholders, in order to enhance local production. The Bill, he said, seeks to establish a rallying point and a comprehensive national operational and governance structure for a complete rice value-chain.
According to him, The establishment of the National Rice Development Council will transform the activities of rice farmers, processors, millers, researchers, marketers and other relevant stakeholders across the rice value-chain”.
