Rice Farmers Plan 1m Hectares Cultivation In 2021 To Enhance Supply.
Rice farmers have projected to cultivate one million hectares of land in 2021 in a move to enhance the supply of the commodity which is always in short supply at festive periods.
This year’s target is far higher than last year during which 221,450 hectares of land was cultivated. The aim is to increase supply to cause the price of the commodity to drop in Africa’s largest economy.
The commodity was in short supply during the last Christmas season and a 50 keg bag went as high as between N26,000 to N28,000 for local rice.
Rice is a popular staple food on Nigerians menu list where the population of about 206 million consumes almost seven million tonnes of rice in a year. One million tonnes is equivalent to 20 million units of 50kg bags of rice and this comes to 140 million of 50kg bags of rice annually.
The Asian country of Thailand has always been the beneficiary of Nigeria’s rice consumption, supplying the country’s most popular staple food until 2016 when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) intervened through the Anchor Borrowers Program(ABP) to save local farmers and stop the huge forex that always goes into the importation of rice.
Governor of Nigeria’s Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele says this year projected cultivation is over 350 per cent increase from that of 2020, noting that the apex bank and the Rice Farmers’ Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) Anchor Borrowers’ Programme(ABP) both nurse an ambitious two cycles of production in the dry season, for an enhanced harvest to trigger a continuous drop in the price of the commodity.
Emefiele speaking at the flag-off of the 2020 wet season harvest aggregation and 2020 dry season input distribution under the CBN-RIFAN- ABP to mark the fifth anniversary of the ABP scheme at Zauro, Kebbi State, Tuesday, says the ABP of the Bank, has emphasised the need for all stakeholders to sustain current efforts championed by the Bank to galvanize agricultural production towards meeting the requirements of Nigeria’s growing population.
He noted that Nigeria was naturally blessed to meet her food requirement and had no reason to continually repeat mistakes of the past of neglecting agriculture.
“The rhetoric around neglect of previous years will remain part of our history and the best time to correct those mistakes is now and every stakeholder must contribute their quota to guarantee the realization of these national targets.
“Covid-19 and the associated lockdowns globally have shown that nations only export out of their reserves. Let us start building our reserves now,” he added.
The flag-off, which comes barely three months after the CBN showcased sky-high pyramids in Minna, Niger State, to highlight its intervention in the maize value chain, also featured the display of pyramids, which were rice harvests brought in by farmers in the state.
The ABP according to Emefiele is an essential part of President Muhammadu Buhari’s drive for economic diversification, had improved the fortunes of rural farmers, transforming agriculture into a potential for economic growth, especially with the huge successes, learning points and challenges.
In the five years of the ABP initiative, a total of 2,923,937 farmers cultivating 3,647,643 hectares across 21 commodities through 23 participating Financial Institutions had been financed in the 36 States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory.
In the 2020 wet season, Banks also financed 221,450 farmers under the CBN-RIFAN partnership for the cultivation of 221,450 hectares in 32 States.
In the North-West zone, 85,261 farmers cultivated 120,218 hectares representing 38.5 per cent in the total number of farmers and 54.3 per cent in the total number of hectares financed. The outcome of the intervention is the massive pyramids being launched in Kebbi from harvests from various fields across the State.
Emefiele hinted at the partnership between the CBN and the Kebbi State Government and RIFAN which aims to strategically complement the Economic Sustainability Plan of the Buhari Administration.
It would be recalled that President Buhari recently approved the resuscitation of the Nigeria Commodity Exchange (NCX) and the commitment of N50 billion by the CBN and other Stakeholders, for a vibrant commodity exchange to enhance post-harvest handling, guarantee effective pricing for farmers, minimize the adverse effect of middlemen and ultimately transfer the gains from primary production to other nodes of the value chain.
Under the ABP-RIFAN, loans are advanced to farmers in addition to the supply of inputs to encourage to boost local production and create jobs.
The CBN Governor acknowledges the importance of loan repayment to the sustainability of the programme and stressed the CBN constant engagement of the farmers to enhance their trust in the system, provide a competitive price arrangement and facilitate effective market linkages for their outputs.
To further create value and transfer these gains along the value chain, he said the CBN also maps miller to off-take the paddies and track the release of outputs to the market as the Bank strives to manage inflation and grow the rice value chain in Nigeria.
The CBN boss also noted that henceforth, farmers will repay their loans in paddy for ease of repayment while urging beneficiaries to repay their loans for others to equally benefit.
At the event that featured the sale of paddy to millers as loan repayment by rice framers under the CBN-RIFAN 2020 wet season cultivation, the Kebbi State Governor, Sen. Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, commended the CBN Governor and his team for the novel initiatives that have brought succour to the country in terms of food security, and encourage diversification.
Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, who doubles as the Chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum, commended the CBN for thinking outside the orthodox paradigm of growing GDP only.
Also speaking, the President, Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), Aminu Goronyo expressed gratitude to President Buhari for his vision that Nigeria must feed herself by producing what she eats and eating what she produces.
While also noting that the CBN had done well to actualise the Buhari vision, Goronyo said the CBN Governor had proved to the world that the agricultural revolution was doable.
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