Nigeria’s rice importation drops to 20,000mt

• FG To Support Local Farmers With Equipment
The Federal Government has disclosed that the volume of rice importation dropped from 644,000 tons to 20,000 tons between 2015 and 2017.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, who made this known this during a courtesy visit by the Chairman, NEPAD Business Group Nigeria (NBNG), Mrs. Nike Akande, said reports from the Thai Rice Exporters Association indicated significant drop in rice importation.

He pledged to support local farmers across the country with rice milling equipment like de-stoners and threshers, to help them reduce cost of production and consequently bring down the local price of rice.

Earlier, Akande called for support of the ministry in the organisation of the 4th Nigeria Rice Investment Forum scheduled for 2018. She assured the minister of continuous collaboration and support by NBNG in a bid to grow the agriculture sector.

In a related development, the agriculture minister called on the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd) to crackdown on smugglers of frozen fish and chicken into the country.

He stated this during a courtesy by Ali.