Local rice gains acceptance in Nigeria as production, quality improve

For 55-year-old Abiodun Oladele, rice was a rare delicacy in his youth. Up to the 70s, rice was usually reserved for festive periods such as Easter, Christmas and Eid-el-Kabir, and in some families, only on Sundays.

Madam Adetutu Williams, a large-scale rice grower, said in those days, the only available varieties were the American Long Grain and Uncle Ben’s rice. She said local rice was not common and when available, it contained pebbles. But the cereal, believed to have been first cultivated in parts of West Africa more than 3,500 years ago, is now a regular feature on every family’s menu.

Local rice was largely shunned in preference for imported cereal because of its poor quality until the Federal Government slammed a ban on rice importation and imposed a 10 per cent levy on such imports. The measure was taken to boost local production and discourage continued importation.

In addition, the government introduced the Presidential Initiative on Rice Production, Processing and Export which targeted the annual production of six million tonnes of milled rice and surplus for export by 2007. Following the programme, rice cultivation increased from 2.2 million hectares in 1999 to 2.8 million hectares in 2006.

Productivity per hectare also increased following the introduction of the high- yielding NERICA rice variety and R-Box technology. So when rice farmers, millers, processors, traders, NGOs and government officials gathered in Kano from June 14 to June 15, the common factor was how to improve the Kura-Kano Corridor Rice Value Chain.

According to the former Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources, Alhaji Adamu Bello, the Federal Government released one billion naira ($8 million) for the multiplication of NERICA and other improved varieties. The action accounted for the noticeable rise in national output from 3.3 million tonnes in 1999 to 4.2 million tonnes in 2006, Adamu said.

Consequently, rice importation reduced from two million tonnes in 2003 to less than one million tonnes in 2005 with a corresponding decline in the amount of foreign exchange spent on rice imports. All these actions are geared towards making the country’s local rice compete effectively with imported varieties in terms of quality and affordability.

These developments were supported in part by the UK Department for International Development (DFID)-sponsored poverty reduction programme known as Promoting Pro-poor Opportunities through Commodity and Service Markets (PrOpCom). PrOpCom is a market-driven intervention programme that facilitates initiatives which enable the production of quality local rice in sufficient quantities that can compete with imported rice and benefit poor stakeholders.

PrOpCom is currently working with farmers, processors, traders, the Kano State Government and other NGOs to improve the Kura-Kano Rice Value Chain. At the stakeholders forum, the consensus was that the relevant government agencies had not been effective and efficient in the provision of basic agricultural inputs and services.

Malam Sani Sagagi, the facilitator of the forum, urged the government to limit itself to regulatory functions and policy formulation in agricultural development. "What we need for adequate development of the sector is public-private partnership that will implement economic activities while the government provides the enabling environment for stability and growth," he said. According to him, Kura-Kano rice production has been a success story for both the farmers and the traders since PrOpCom came on stream.

Sagagi said more rice growers, parboilers, millers and traders were now attracted to the rice business because of the level of awareness, technical knowledge and financial assistance offered by PrOpCom.

"The approach to rice production by PrOpCom has been particularly innovative and successful as it is based on the community-driven development approach. "Farmers, fabricators and millers are now doing it right with adequate technical support. There’s now a great motivation within the rice growing communities to solve their own problems, as they have quickly learnt a lot in terms of planning and project management," he said. According to the facilitator, the linkages provided by PrOpCom between the chain players has resulted in improved understanding, higher income, improved profitability and greater job opportunities.

Another benefit is better market information, which guarantees a sustainable source of quality paddy rice as raw material for Sagagi’s mill. Another rice grower, Hajia Halima Bukuru, noted that there had also been an improvement in processing and packaging in response to the market demand, leading to higher profit.

However, the stakeholders agreed that problems still existed. They cited inadequate irrigation systems and input utilisation as some of the factors still limiting optimum output and quality rice. Added to these is the lack of adequate finances for growers. According to the stakeholders, farmers obtain inputs from open markets at very expensive rates and the labour constraint, if not looked into, will cause a reduction in both quality and quantity of rice.

Vanguard