Investing in Rice Production

Motivated by its population size and the rising Nigerian staple food, Nigeria has become the largest consumer of rice in Africa. The country produces 4.2 million metric tones of about 6 million metric tones it consumes. The 4.2 million tones of production is done on 2.8 million hectares of farm land. Nigeria is also the largest importer of rice in Africa, accounting for 25 percent of Africa's import. On the basis of population growth and rural - urban migration, the consumption of rice in the country can only grow. How will this growth be met?
The growth in consumption of rice can only be met either by increased production or by increased import, and both have different ramifications for the Nigerian economy. If the growth in import should continue, it means very soon, the proportion of imported rice consumed in Nigeria will be greater than that produced in the country. Thus, rice will soon join the league of thousands of products that Nigerians have to almost exclusively rely on imports for consumption purposes. But if the required investments are made, the story can be different. Nigeria can, not only become self- sufficient in rice production but be also able to export to other countries.
The main reasons for poor productivity and produce in rice are also the same for the whole of agriculture in Nigeria. These reasons stem from the fact that we have erroneously reduced agriculture support to provision of fertilizer. But nations that have managed to improve agriculture have done so by working on all aspects of the economy that has implications for agricultural produce. For instance, Christopher Okeke, an agriculture analyst believes Nigerian agriculture suffers from a highly agricultural credit system, inadequate or absent infrastructure of irrigation, facilities, roads and storage services etc, limited availability of appropriate varieties and primordial inputs and markets.
Specifically on rice, hitherto local farm yields in Nigeria are 1.5 metric tonnes per hectare and the quality is poor and unacceptable in urban markets. It is characterized by subsistence farming, low inputs, non-certified seeds, manual labour, low level of knowledge and training, single harvest, lack of irrigation facilities, etc. In a nutshell, there is very little investment in this sector and rice farms can do better than they are doing now.
According to Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) Food Outlook Global Market Analysis, published recently, in line with earlier expectations, international prices of the major traded rice varieties have been weakening in the past several months. The analysis notes that although declining, rice export prices continued to be underpinned by export restrictions and producer price support in major exporting countries, which had the effect of withholding supplies away from world markets. This goes to explain the rising rice prices in Nigeria maybe as a result of short supply from exporting countries.
The rice issue is an offshoot of the policy inconsistencies that the Nigerian agriculture sector has been subjected to in recent times. Cassava and palm oil were victims of policy inconsistencies. In one breath, the Federal Government introduced policies that encouraged the local production of these commodities and in another breath it came up with policies that worked against this nationalistic move. Nigeria's rice policy has been inconsistent over the years, oscillating between high import tariffs, import restrictions, and outright ban. For instance, between 1986 and 1994, rice imports were illegal. In 1995, imports were allowed at 100 per cent tariff. In 1996, the tariff was reduced to 50 per cent and came full cycle to 100 per cent in 2002 and partially in 2008. How can we make progress with rice under this kind of circumstance?
What do we do? Nigeria must not miss the huge economic opportunity in rice production highlighted above. The potentials are there. The untapped arable land is there. We have the capacity to provide the required farm inputs that can robustly transform rice production. We must not allow food importation policies to kill research initiatives and farmers' enthusiasm to give national research breakthroughs a trial. Most importantly, we need the political will of Asian countries like India, Thailand, Cambodia, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines to address issues of food insecurity especially through improved funding of agricultural research systems. Nigeria can be a net exporter of rice too with New Rice for Africa (NERICA), a product of the cross breeding of Oriza glaberima African rice, with the Asian Oriza sativa. Afterall, African rice has been given recognition in research centers because it is resistant to major rice diseases and pests in Africa. Our Ofada which is currently a popular menu in fast food centres can take us there too if rightly handled

Source:Business Day Online