Farmers have decried the increased importation of foreign rice, saying it is crippling the country’s local production.

The farmers disclosed this in Lagos on Sunday.

Local rice production has declined since the federal government’s duty waiver on the importation of rice and other essential commodities in 2024.

The acting chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) and rice farmer, Sakin Agbayewa, said local farmers had been suffering since the increase in rice imports.

He said, “With the renewal of the import waiver on rice and other essential commodities, there have been tonnes of shipments of rice coming into the country. The increase in the importation of rice is crippling local cultivation of the commodity and keeping a lot of farmers out of business.

“Also, the current climate change realities aren’t even helping the production of rice locally. The inconsistency in climate change effects is a big factor affecting the local cultivation of rice, hence the downturn for most rice farmers.

“Moreso, the ongoing Iran-Israel-US war is affecting the price of fertilisers, thereby increasing the cost of production for an average rice farmer. All agro-inputs are on the increase. So, ordinarily, the situation is beyond what the common or subsistence farmer can handle. Hence the reconsideration of cultivating the produce this planting season.” 

He noted that most rice farmers were at their wits’ end about how to thrive in a sector dominated by imports.

“So, at what capacity do we expect the average local farmer to produce? If a farmer goes to the farm to cultivate and pegs his selling price at N60,000 or N65,000, and, on the other hand, a moneybag can easily import 100,000 metric tonnes of rice into the country and begin selling at N40,000 per bag.

“So, how can our local rice farmers survive in such tough terrain? With this increased importation of rice, local farmers don’t even have the chance to grow, and this is killing local production.

“The percentage of local rice production has dropped maximally. So, we need to build more capacity for local farmers to continue to cultivate, so the sector does not cripple entirely,” he said.

On his part, Raphael Hunsa, Lagos State Chairman of the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria, called on the government to help boost local rice production, as farmers are overwhelmed by pressures in the sector.

Mr Hunsa said, “The issue of rice farming is very unpredictable; most rice farmers are just managing. Most local rice farmers cannot even afford fertilisers, or more or less break even.

“We are not even talking about profit because there is no enabling environment for local rice farmers. If the government can help local farmers and make it easy for us, the importers will no longer have a market to sell to. If the government can take the cause of our local farmers seriously, we will still have more farmers in business.”

He said the government’s inputs to farmers hardly reach them.

“After all the cost we incur in rice production from clearing the land to harvesting, some people will still undermine our efforts by under-pricing the rice.

“Some of the farmers don’t have a choice but to sell off their produce at ridiculously low prices just to have something to feed their families,” he said.

A rice trader at the Agege area of the state, Tolu Ajiboye, confirmed the drop in rice price due to the availability of imported rice in the market.

Mrs Ajiboya said, “I don’t know how local rice can thrive with the increased availability of imported rice. Around Easter, a 50kg bag of rice sold for about N61,000 to N63,000, but now, due to flooding the market with rice, the same quantity sells for between N51,000 and N55,000, depending on the brand.

“Most local rice brands don’t stand a chance to survive at this time. Even producers of local rice now rebag their rice in foreign bags to enable them to sell their produce because of the growing preference for imported rice and its low price range.

“But as most rice farmers and traders know, the sector is quite unpredictable. For now, there is availability and affordability of imported rice.” 

(NAN)