European Nations Kick: 3 Million Tons of Rice Ready for Harvesting
CBN Spends N23b To Improve Local Rice and Soya Bean Production.
With clear indications that Nigeria may finally be on its way to meeting its rice consumption needs, some foreign countries are already displaying dissatisfaction and mounting opposition.
This is as farmers across 13 states are starting near the end of wet season rice production with the help of N23 billion in loans provided by the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Anchor Borrowers’ Programme.
A few weeks ago, the Ambassador of a European nation led a delegation to the office of the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, complaining that Nigerians had been importing stock fish from his country long before independence.
According to Tribune sources, he lamented the decision of the CBN to exclude the commodity from those that were eligible for importation with foreign exchange sourced from the official window.
Emefiele bluntly informed his guest that while his country had over $1 trillion in its foreign reserves, Nigeria, as of then, had just about $25 billion, and challenged him to arrange for business people from his country to come to Nigeria and develop the wide coastal line from Lagos to Calabar.
Also, the European Union has placed a ban on the importation of beans from Nigeria on the pretext that they contain “too much chemical.”
Former Deputy Governor of the CBN, Dr. Obadaih Mailafia, told the Tribune that the move was a direct consequence of the action of the CBN and Federal Government to attain self-sufficiency in food production and curtail unnecessary imports.
During an inspection of the wet season rice harvest in some areas of Kebbi on Sunday and Monday this week, Emefiele gave the assurance that Nigeria would soon exit the importation of rice.
According to him, farmers in Kebbi State alone have produced one million metric tons of rice currently being harvested, aside from the 1.2 million metric tons from Kano and the 800,000 metric tons already harvested in Niger State.
Emefiele disclosed that N23 billion has been spent so far in promoting local farming and production of rice, soy beans, sugar, and other important produce.
The CBN team visited Wasagu, Argungu, Birnin Kebbi, and some other locations to inspect the harvest and kick off dry season farming.
He added that Kebbi, Niger, Anambra, Calabar, and other rice producing states would feed the nation and ensure the availability of food items in Nigeria.
He said that the program, which is going to be a continuous exercise, will boost the economic activities of the country and diversify the nation’s economy.
The annual consumption of rice in Nigeria is put at over 6 million metric tons per year. Presently, local production is about 2.8 million metric tons. This is set to change for the better.
