Nigeria spends $1.3 billion on rice imports

An estimated $1.3 billion is spent annually on the importation of about 2.2 billion kilogrammes of rice, a staple food consumed in almost every home in Nigeria.

This is part of the findings of a research project conducted by the Dutch Agricultural Development and Trading Company (DADTCO), which said the money amount could be re-channeled towards funding rice production locally.

Managing Director, DADTCO, Mr. Peter Bolt, presented the report at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between his company and the Taraba State Government on the Taraba Rice Project. He added that quality rice could be produced in several parts of the country if farmers were encouraged to produce more rice using modern production techniques.

Bolt lamented the fact that Nigeria had over the years emerged as Africa's largest importer of all foodstuffs when the country had been blessed with a conducive climate and hard working people that could make her the food basket of the world.

The Ambassador of the Netherlands to Nigeria, Dr. Arie van der Wiel, who witnessed the signing, said that under the arrangement, DADTCO would be establishing plants where locally produced rice would be re-processed for export. He stressed the need for Nigeria to pay more attention to agriculture, adding that it is the green gold (agriculture) rather than the black gold (oil) that would determine Nigeria's economic future.

Taraba State Governor, Alhaji Danbaba Suntai, who endorsed the agreement on behalf of his state, described the partnership between Taraba and DADTCO as a dream come true. He said Taraba was already collaborating with the Dutch firm on cassava production, which began last year.

The cassava revolution, Suntai disclosed, was geared towards encouraging the farmers in the state to grow more cassava and transform from subsistence farming to commercial farming.

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