President Muhammadu Buhari has described the sky-high rice pyramids unveiled in Abuja, on Tuesday, as part of his administration’s commitment to achieving national food security and economic diversification through home-grown policies targeted at securing food for all Nigerians.
He added that the commissioning is no doubt a testament to the fact that the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) is working as rice production in Nigeria has increased to over 7.5 Million Metric tons annually.
According to Mr President, prior to the introduction of ABP, the average production in Nigeria between 1999 to 2015 was less than 4 metric tons annually.
President Buhari, who stated this at the official commissioning ceremony of CBN-RIFAN rice paddy pyramids in Abuja Tuesday added: “I am aware that the bags of paddy will be moving straight from here to rice milling plants across Nigeria, which lead to the release of processed rice to the markets by the rice millers. The measure will aid our efforts at reducing the price of rice in Nigeria.”
Similarly, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Anchor Borrowers’ Programme as at the end of December 2021, financed 4,489,786 farmers that cultivated 5,300,411 hectares across 21 commodities through 23 Participating Financial Institutions in the 36 States of the Federation and FCT.
The programme he noted has catalyzed the rural economy and built a sustainable framework for financing smallholder farmers in Nigeria.
Also, it has developed an ecosystem among all nodes of the agricultural value chain and these linkages can be better optimised through synergy among all stakeholders.
President Buhari pointed out that before this administration launched the ABP, there were only 15 standard Rice mills in Nigeria, but as of today, “we have over 50 Standard and integrated Rice mills creating jobs and reducing unemployment.
“About three years ago, the first set of sky-high pyramids of rice harvests were showcased in Argungu, Kebbi State, which was followed by another set in Minna, Niger State about a year ago. And barely three months later in Zauro, Kebbi State, rice pyramids were again unveiled. Later, in May 2021 the CBN unveiled the first rice pyramids in the South-West of Nigeria in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State.
“Those events were historic as, first, they remind us of our yester-year’s agricultural commodity pyramids, such as the groundnut pyramids in Kano and secondly, they symbolize that we can produce what we eat.
“When we assumed the reins of leadership of this country in 2015, the administration identified the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme as an essential policy instrument for achieving economic diversification through agriculture.
“To achieve this, the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme was designed to encourage investments in agriculture and empower smallholder farmers as drivers of transformation in the agricultural sector and as critical enablers of economic growth.
“I am indeed delighted that the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme continues to receive commendations, since its introduction six years ago, as it has become one of the reference points in the administration’s agricultural revolution effort. In fact, the Programme speaks loudly in its giant strides as it has increased access to finance by our rural farmers, who before now were virtually excluded from the financial system,” President Buhari said.
He noted that additional significant output is expected when two new mills are started in Lagos and Katsina as many people are showing interest in investing in the agribusiness because of the large profit margins.
As a critical policy of the government, he pointed out that the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme is expected to catalyse the agricultural productive base of the nation, which is a major part of his economic plan to “uplift the economy, create jobs, reduce reliance on imported food and industrial raw materials, and conserve foreign exchange.”
The President added that “the improved rice seedlings have helped to ensure our achievement of rice sufficiency, as they are disease-resistant and have an average yield of about 5 metric tonnes per hectare, compared with the traditional national average of 1.5 metric tonnes,” resulting in bridging rice consumption gap, a significant reduction in rice imports, and save foreign exchange for the country.
He commended the Central Bank of Nigeria for its recent efforts at resuscitating the Nigerian Commodity Exchange following his approval.
This, he noted, has been done, in the hope that our farmers can have ready buyers of their produce, thereby resolving the current logistical challenge of moving their produce from farm to markets.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, at the unveiling of the FCT Mega Rice Pyramids under the RIFAN-CBN Anchor Borrowers ’ Programme explained that these efforts have yielded fruits in not just increasing the availability of rice, but also in “moderating prices, reducing imports and increasing job creation in the country,” pointing out that, “Thailand alone exported 1.3 million metric tons of rice to Nigeria in 2014.”
He explained that the ABP was launched in 2015 to curtail these imports, and since then, incremental reductions have been seen in rice imports from Thailand as “by 2016, rice imports from Thailand had fallen to only 58,000 metric tons, and as of the end of 2021, they only exported 2,160 metric tons to Nigeria, thereby saving us foreign exchange and helping preserve jobs in Nigeria.”
Beyond increasing the “national output from about 5.4 million metric tons in 2015 to over 9 million metric tons in 2021, we have also significantly improved the productivity per hectare of the smallholder farmer from about 2.4 metric tons per ha in 2015 to between about 5 metric tons per ha in 2021.
“These expansions have not only made Nigeria the largest rice producer in Africa but has also unlocked enormous private sector investment in the rice value chain as the number of Integrated Rice Mills grew astronomically from 6 in 2015 to over 50 in 2021 with many more in various stages of completion. Today, Nigeria’s milled rice matches the foreign rice in quality,” Mr Emiefele said.
He explained that taking a cue from the success in the rice value chain, the administration commenced the “Brown Revolution” last year as its mantra for the transformation of the wheat value chain in Nigeria.
Mr Emiefele further explained: “Wheat is the 3rd most consumed grain in Nigeria after maize and rice. It is estimated that we only produce about 1 per cent (63,000 mt) of the 5-6 million mt of wheat consumed annually in Nigeria.
“This enormous demand-supply gap is bridged with over $2 billion annual importation of wheat. As a result, wheat accounts for the second-highest food import bill in Nigeria, thereby putting pressure on the nation’s foreign exchange reserves.
“We have concluded the 1st major wet season wheat farming in Plateau State and planted over 100,000 hectares of wheat across 15 states in the 2021 dry season. This strategic intervention will herald a progressive reduction in our wheat import bills over the coming years.
“We also established a Strategic Maize Reserve with the stock of maize submitted as loan repayment by our farmers. This will provide a buffer for price modulation for the poultry and feed mills nationwide.
“A total of 241,656.76 MT was aggregated in the 2020 wet and dry seasons, out of which 217,218.53 MT has been disposed to 18 millers and poultry farmers through the Poultry Association of Nigeria. The program was able to stabilise the poultry and livestock sectors during the pandemic and saved the industry and consumers over N10 billion in raw material costs.
“The mega pyramids being launched Tuesday represents aggregated paddy rice submitted as repayment of loans by RIFAN farmers under the 2020 dry season and 2021 wet seasons.
“Beyond the event, it also symbolises the efforts made by our farmers to commit to loan repayment through produce submission and ultimately ensures the sustainability of the Programme.”
According to him, the CBN has deepened stakeholders’ engagement to increase the arable land under cultivation and improve the productivity per hectare using improved seeds and agronomic practices.
Currently, he said they are exploring a new rice seed variety with RIFAN that has the potential to deliver over 8 tons per hectare, and that the pilot programme should commence in the 2022 dry season, and it has the potential of being the game-changer for the rice sector in Nigeria.
“We will work with the various seed certification authorities and explore the possibility of patenting it for RIFAN as part of their legacies under the Programme,” Mr Emiefele added.
RIFAN, President, Alhaji Aminu Goronyo said about five million people are usually engaged in every farming season for the cultivation of rice, and that some Governors are committed to the agricultural sector by ensuring that foreign rice does not enter their states, apart from encouraging people to go back to farm.
The Governors of Kebbi, Cross River, Jigawa, Ebonyi, Ekiti States and FCT Minister of State were among the dignitaries that attended the event.
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Rice pyramids unveiling, commitment to achieving food security, economic diversification ― Buhari
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