Nigeria’s rice industry at risk — Stakeholders

Stakeholders in Nigeria’s rice industry have raised the alarm over the existential threat facing Nigeria’s rice value chain due to policy distortions, selective import waivers, and unchecked smuggling.

They said that Nigeria’s rice industry, which has seen over two decades of growth through public-private investments, now faces a potential collapse if immediate corrective actions are not taken.

The stakeholders, under the umbrella of Competitive African Rice Forum – Nigeria Chapter (CARF-FSD Nigeria), representing a broad coalition of rice farmers, processors, millers, marketers, NGOs, and development partners, said over 13 million metric tonnes of domestic milling capacity have been installed nationwide, enough to meet and even exceed national demand.

However, CARF-FSD Nigeria highlighted that this productive capacity is now grossly underutilized as imported and smuggled rice floods the market.

The CARF-FSD Nigeria underlined that the 2024 waiver undermined a decade of progress, when in July 2024, the Federal Government granted a 180-day duty waiver on the importation of key food items, including husked brown rice, which took effect in 2024.

It noted that while the waiver intended to temporarily reduce food prices and combat hoarding, it unintentionally triggered a sharp downturn in local rice market activity leading to Paddy’s demand collapse, leaving farmers with unsold harvests.

“Local mills scaled down or shut down operations, citing inability to compete with subsidized imports. Rural job losses mounted across rice-producing states, including Kebbi, Kano, Ebonyi, Plateau, Nasarawa, Jigawa, Ekiti, and Benue, Akwa Ibom, Adamawa and a host of other states. Youth employment and female-led processing clusters were decimated, reversing years of economic inclusion efforts,” CARF-FSD Nigeria stated, warning that the “ripple effects of the waiver are still crippling production, reducing future planting interest, and destabilizing the rice sector’s economic foundation”.

According to CARF-FSD Nigeria, beyond waivers, smuggling is crippling legitimate operators as massive inflows of smuggled rice, often substandard and unregulated, continue to saturate Nigerian markets through porous borders.

Peter Dama, Chairman, Board of Trustees Competitive African Rice Forum – Nigeria Chapter (CARF-FSD Nigeria) said, “Smuggling has: made legitimate millers and processors uncompetitive, undermined health standards and food safety; exposed border communities to the influence of criminal trade networks; erased market confidence for smallholder farmers, cooperatives, and agribusinesses who play by the rules”.

He warned that “As Nigeria approaches the 2027 elections, the rice industry’s decline poses grave risks to national security and political stability,” as “this is a political, economic, and security flashpoint”.

According to him, the loss of jobs, income, and productive opportunities for rural youth may lead to “widespread unrest in agricultural regions. Increased rural-urban migration, overwhelming already strained cities. Disillusionment with public policy, creating vulnerabilities for political actors and national unity”.

CARF-FSD Nigeria called on the Federal Government to urgently intervene to reverse this trajectory and safeguard the rice industry, not just for economic reasons, but for national resilience.

It recommend an end to selective import waivers on rice and related food commodities, and requested for all trade incentives to be transparent, time-bound, and equitable, and to reaffirm rice as a protected strategic crop, deserving of policy continuity to protect over 5 million livelihoods directly dependent on its value chain.

Other recommendations include the need to “Strengthen Nigeria Customs Service operations to seal off key smuggling corridors and deploy rapid-response border enforcement.

Create a national rice buffer stock and offtake mechanism, to stabilize market prices during harvest cycles.

“Support paddy production through access to irrigation where we can have double Paddy production circle that is through rain fall and irrigation, supply of affordable inputs, mechanization, and affordable low interest agriculture financing.

“Launch a public campaign to promote Nigerian rice, rebuilding consumer confidence in local quality and traceability”.

The stakeholders said Nigeria’s rice value chain is not the source of food inflation; rather it is the most scalable, inclusive and solution available, which if protected and empowered, the industry can feed the country, reduce import dependence, create jobs, and anchor rural development.

CARF-FSD Nigeria stated that it has been supporting the government and is always ready to support the government in building a rice-security, which is economically stable, and politically safe for Nigeria.

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