Self-Sufficiency In Rice Production: A Political Statement Or Economic Achievement?

Just today, President Mohammed Buhari used a public display of a rice pyramid in Abuja to show the world how far his government has gone in accomplishing one of his dream projects of self-sufficiency in agriculture.

On ascending the position of the president of Nigeria, Gen. Muhammed Buhari (retd.) had promised in his cardinal manifesto to diversify the economy and increase agriculture's contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.

The minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed, on several occasions, outlined the government's plan to reduce the country's dependence on foreign rice and insisted that the measures to restrict imported rice were going to pay Nigerians sooner rather than later.

The government of President Mohammed Buhari went to work by harmonizing the fiscal and monetary authorities' policies to help him actualize his dream of self-sufficiency in agriculture, especially rice production.

On the monetary front, the CBN came up with the anchor borrowers’ policy aimed at providing monetary and technical support to rice farmers and others to help them increase production.

On the fiscal front, the ministry of agriculture, in collaboration with the ministry of finance, provided the needed administrative, financial, technical, and other support to assist both subsistence and commercial production of rice.

All of these programs have resulted in a steady increase in local rice production, with major rice-producing companies establishing rice mills in almost every part of Nigeria.

There are currently rice mills in Ebonyi State, Adamawa State, Niger State, Yobe State, Kebbi State, Benue State, Ekiti State, Kaduna State, and a few others.

Before now, the country spent N467.96 billion on the importation of rice from the period of 2010–2019. Everybody agreed that this was unsustainable and only a drastic policy plan could arrest this ugly trend.

The earlier policy to restrict rice imports was painful, but as time progressed, everybody got used to the high price and adjusted their belts appropriately.

But today, in all pageantry, President Mohammed Buhari, accompanied by the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, Aliko Dangote, and some very important government officials, graced the event to the cheers of all present.

Taking a critical assessment of the unveiling, the question in most analysts’ minds is whether this unveiling is a show of political intent or a real drive to address our economic challenges of food insufficiency.

These are the gains from government agriculture policies.

1. To encourage domestic rice production in order to eliminate rice imports and increase local production capacity.

2. To develop and promote the country’s capacity to export local rice to most African countries and other countries in the world. It is believed that Nigerian rice is one of the best in the world, high in nutrients, and healthy.

3. To provide a framework that can be adopted as a model by other African countries in the production of rice.

4. Most importantly, it will help the government save much needed foreign exchange.

5. It will also help the country drive down the price of rice as more rice is produced and circulated. As a result, expect the price to fall as soon as possible.

It is important to understand that even though the public unveiling was seen as a mere political statement, it doesn’t change the fact that it is a milestone achievement.

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