Following the unveiling of its rice project, Jigawa state government has pledged its support to the management of Dangote Rice Farming Limited in a bid to enhance the realisation of the nation’s rice self-sufficiency target.
Indeed, the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote has expressed his resolve to invest heavily in rice farming in five states of the federation within the next five years.
In a statement made available to The Guardian, members of the state’s communities, at a town hall sensitisation meeting, expressed satisfaction at the choice of their area for the project, adding that the project would complement the state government’s agenda of job creation and poverty reduction at the grassroots.
According to Dangote, the first phase of the project will see the firm cultivating 600 hectares of land for commercial rice farming by November.
“Jigawa state government was particularly excited at the Out-Grower part of the plan that would see Dangote Rice helping farmers to cultivate and grow rice which would also be bought from them under the plan.
“Already, multi million dollars worth of state of the art equipment have been procured for the commencement of the rice project”, the statement read.
According to the farming plan released during a sensitization town hall meetings with some host communities in the local government, the rice project at Kaffin Hausa has a five year plan to achieve between 175,000 and 200,000 hectares of rice grown twice a year.
The rice project has a plan to follow a due process for the development of the 20,000 hectares of land for rice farming in order to produce and sell high quality parboiled rice in the Nigerian market.
Management of the Company, led by Alhaji Mohammed Bello said the Dangote Rice project has the objectives of becoming the leader in rice farming in the world and also boost the nation’s economy, while encouraging self sustainability and import substitution in rice.
He said the that company was set to reduce importation of rice into Nigeria by investing to become the largest farming operations in the world by 2020 with excess of 150,000 hectares of land spread around three to five states.
According to him, Dangote Rice Company will produce and sell one million tonns of high quality parboiled rice within the next five years, while at the same time supporting and developing Nigerian rice farmers through the out-grower plan that will generate employment.
In his remark, the Director of Jigawa Invest, an investment agency of the state government, Alhaji Hamisu Sabo, said the state government has been encouraging and supporting Dangote Rice project because it is a project that will make a difference in the lives of the people of the state.
He stated that the decision to establish the rice project in Jigawa was a boost to the development agenda of the new government in the state, pointing out that job creation and poverty reduction are a cardinal objectives of the state government agenda.
