Nigeria’s rice policy crashes global exports – Minister

Federal Government’s efforts to boost self-sufficiency in rice production next year have affected export of the commodity globally, as prices of the product slump, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, has said.

He disclosed this at a roundtable meeting of rice supply chain of the agribusiness supplier development programme.

He revealed that the current surplus in production, ban on importation and the 2017 target of self-sufficiency, were already causing uproars among leading rice exports countries such as Vietnam, Thailand and China.

The event was jointly organised by the ministry, the United Nations Development Programme and the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing for Agricultural Lending in Minna, Niger State.

Ogbe said government was ready to maintain a stable policy in rice business in order to reduce post-harvest losses in the country’s production.

He said: “We are now rice sufficient in the country. By 2017, Nigeria will be self-sufficient in rice production. We are getting close, as there is improvement on what we have been getting before. This will boost our economy.

“The ban on rice importation by the Federal Government remains as there is currently surplus across the country.

“This means there is result and it shows that the farmers and all government’s policies are aiding agriculture produce.”

The agric minister further disclosed that the bulk of the rice consumed in the country was imported and had over the years exerted undue pressure on the country’s scarce foreign exchange.

He said: “This, of course, was the result of our inability to produce sufficient paddy rice to meet the demand of processors.

“But the strategic implementation of the programme would lead to an increased availability of domestic agroinputs supply, enhance production and reduce post-harvest losses, support the private sector and create market linkages.”

Reports showed that farmers in Chai National province in Thailand have started putting up “for sale” signs on their farmland amid plummeting rice prices. The decisions came after they could no longer shoulder losses and needed cash to repay bank loans.

Also, exports to many markets have dropped as rice exports fell 21.2 per cent in quantity and 16.9 per cent in value compared to the previous year.

However, average rice exports in the first nine months of the year managed to fetch $449/ton, up 4.8 per cent yearon- year.

The decline in consumption can be traced back to a decrease in imports from many markets.

China, Vietnam’s biggest customer, only imported 1.35 million tons (equal to $613.8 million), down 23 per cent in quantity and 13.9 per cent in value year-on-year.

Vietnam also suffered from a drop in rice export values from other countries such as the Philippines (47.8 per cent), Malaysia (47.4 per cent), Singapore (34.6 per cent), the U.S. (32 per cent), the Ivory Coast (25.2 per cent) and Hong Kong (11.4 per cent).