Ibrahim Abdullahi, a rice farmer from Kebbi state had a tall dream while cultivating his 350-hectare farm. He, who was expecting 600 tons of the produce, is now lamenting the severe flooding that has now left him with only 100 tons.
“Since when I started farming, I have never experienced intensive cultivation of rice like now, because a lot of people are into rice farming. But unfortunately, we experienced this intensive flooding that we are still experiencing now, and farmers are now counting losses because 90 percent of our farmers have lost what they have cultivated,” he said.
Abdullahi is just one of the farmers in northern Nigeria who have lost more than two million tons of rice, a quarter of the country’s projected harvest, due to flooding. The loss came at a time Nigeria is upholding a year-long ban on land-based imports of rice to crack down on smuggling and boost local production.
According to the United State of Department of Agriculture, rice production in Nigeria was about 6.7 million tons in the last three years, with imports seen declining by 200,000 tons in 2020 from 1.2 million tons last year as price-sensitive consumers switched to local staples.
As Africa’s largest population, Nigeria annually imports billions of dollars of rice and wheat. With hopes to become self-sufficient, the government banned land-based rice imports to crack down on smuggling and boost local rice production in 2019.
Sadly, many farmlands have been lost this year as torrential rains caused by two main rivers overflow, as stated by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
Nigeria’s biggest rice-producing state, Kebbi, had projected 2.5 million tons this year, but heavy September rains washed away two million tons.
For Local rice miller, Mohammad Anuana, the selling rate of rice will double because farmers will have to recoup their losses from the remainder.
“If rain has already washed away all the farm produce, you know the price of goods will rise because the little one they have on the ground will be used to recover losses, so they will double the price,” he said.
Chairman of the All Farmers Association in Nigeria, John Wuyep said affected farmers will be compensated. “The government and even financial institutions have machinery in force. So many who have lost now are already preparing for the dry season farming,”
According to him, better groundwork is needed to prevent flooding and have a steady water supply during the dry season. Also, flood reduction would help save homes and the displacement of thousands of Nigerians from overflowing rivers.,he said.
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