Nigerian rice farmers have blamed middlemen and cartels for the sharp rise in the price of the staple, accusing them of hoarding, profiteering, and undermining government efforts to stabilise the market.

Rice farmers’ leaders told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos on Sunday that unscrupulous actors in the sector were deliberately creating artificial scarcity and exploiting Nigerians’ preference for imported rice.

“The main issue is that the rice price hike can be linked to a cartel that wants to frustrate government’s effort,” said Sakin Agbayewa, vice-chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria.

He alleged that while the Federal Government had issued waivers earlier this year to allow limited rice imports and reduce costs, some importers warehoused stock to cash in after the waiver expired.

“Now that the importation waiver is over, the cartel is creating artificial scarcity,” Agbayewa said. “Some farmers also repack local rice in foreign bags to sell at high prices because they know Nigerians have this high taste for foreign things.”

Raphael Hunsa, chairman of the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria in Lagos State, said the government must engage with genuine local farmers if it wants to bring prices down.

“The price of rice will continue to go up if the government fails to support local rice farmers,” Hunsa said. “They should invite us to a roundtable for the right policies and programmes. We know our problems, and if they ask us, we will provide solutions.”

He urged farmers not to sell off government-provided inputs, such as fertilisers, but to use them to boost production.

Traders confirmed that prices had surged following the expiration of the import waiver. A dealer at Oja Oba Market in Agege, Mustafa Aliu, said a 50-kilogramme bag of rice currently sells for between ₦70,000 and ₦80,000.

Another trader, Temitayo Hakeem, said high demand for imported rice was also fuelling the spike. “There are bags that still sell as high as ₦145,000 or ₦150,000, depending on the consumer’s choice,” he said.

NAN reports that a 50kg bag of local rice now sells between ₦65,000 and ₦80,000, compared with ₦45,000 to ₦55,000 just two months ago.

Farmers and traders warned that unless interventions reach genuine producers and hoarding is curtailed, the price of rice is likely to climb further in the coming months.