For the umpteenth time, Nigeria’s fledgling local rice industry is facing the grim threat of collapse as toxic foreign rice dominate most of the country’s major food markets.
Across the country, rice smugglers are having a field day filling our markets and stores with imported rice whose quality and safety are as questionable as the unscrupulous elements that brought them.
According to the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), rice is the most smuggled item, constituting 70% of all rice products in the local markets and sucking away foreign exchange.
Despite the outright ban on rice imports, it appears smugglers are always finding ways to circumvent measures to halt their illegal trade.
Reports say toxic foreign rice worth over N1tr is currently waiting at Benin Republic to get into Nigeria through illegal routes.
Many markets such Singa in Kano, Terminus in Jos, Sango in Ogun, Utako in Abuja, Ogbete in Enugu and Jimeta in Yola are overwhelmed with foreign rice being sold side by side with Nigerian brands.
But the most worrisome issue is how these imported rice brands are loaded with deadly chemicals, repackaged with fake production and expiry dates, and shipped in after over 20 years in foreign silos.
In the last four months, at least 1m metric tonnes of toxic foreign rice was brought into Nigeria, according to a survey by the Rice Processors Association of Nigerian (RIPAN).
The menace of rice smuggling is festering despite the commendable efforts of the federal government such as the anchor-borrower scheme which has enabled Nigerian farmers and processors to raise rice production.
According to research, at least 200,000 smallholder farmers in 29 states are benefitting from N43bn released by the CBN, resulting in 2.5m jobs as at October 2018. This initiative has made it possible for about 862,069 farmers to cultivate about 835, 239 hectares of land for 16 crops including rice.
The overwhelming quantity of foreign rice in our local markets is making it difficult if not impossible for Nigerian rice to access the markets. Unless, the menace of rice smuggling is totally eliminated, our local rice industry is facing a serious danger of collapse.
Way Forward
There are three key steps to radically curtail the menace of rice smuggling in order to help develop the rice industry in Nigeria.
First, it is apparent that despite the increasing efforts of the Customs to check smuggling, our borders are still embarrassingly porous. For N100, smugglers on motorcycles or trucks buy their way into Nigeria to convey foreign rice.
Through Katsina axis, Kamba town in Kebbi State and Seme border between Lagos and Benin Republic, smugglers are shoving tonnes of foreign rice and crippling Nigeria’s already weak economy.
“Nigeria is losing huge revenues, foreign exchange and jobs to this menace as Nigerian Rice processors are shutting down due to inability to gain market access as a result of the influx of foreign rice in our local markets,” according to RIPAN chairman Muhammad Abubakar Maifata.
Therefore, it has become necessary for the federal government to deploy more customs officers with support from sister agencies.
Secondly, the NCS should also be empowered to intensify efforts at raiding local markets and seizing all foreign rice brands to discourage open sale of the illegal commodity. This step could be made easier if the NCS deploys intelligence officers to monitor activities of smugglers and their clients.
On the other hand, the NCS should engage rice dealers constantly and enlighten them on the benefit of patronizing local rice producers while also alerting them on the dangers of importing rice that are harmful to public health.
Thirdly, the re-introduction of marketing boards has become very crucial in order to protect rice farmers and processors from incurring losses as a result of glut.
Akinwumi Adesina, a former minister of agriculture, had worked to re-establish marketing boards to help farmers but the plan could not be implemented before the administration expired.
Marketing boards would certainly to scale agricultural hurdles of poor financing, fluctuating prices and inability to access markets. Price stability, as a key component of the marketing boards, will attract new investments in agriculture and encourage expansion of production while also protecting farmers from selling their products at give-away prices in the event of glut.
However, these boards should be dominated by the private sector stakeholders with government representatives serving only in advisory capacity.
If constituted, marketing boards could help the country in achieving food sufficiency and security through establishing national strategic grains reserves where rice paddy and maize, which are Nigeria’s most vital crops, could be stored and sold to processors.
In addition to this, government silos could be used to store rice and maize through the marketing boards rather than being leased to farmers, who in most cases cannot afford the costs. As such, the President Muhammadu Buhari administration should revisit its predecessor’s plan on marketing boards and proceed to implement it.
Nazifi sent this piece from Kano
