Rice Revolution And The Challenges Of Food Importation In Nigeria
By T.H Mayo (Pics from Google) In November 2017 president Buhari announced that illegal importation of food is considered a threat to national security. By this pronouncement, all land borders were closed and local production of rice was encouraging through loans to farmers and the provision of farming inputs and dry season farmers were given the necessary attention. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Nigeria is Africa's leading rice consumer and one of its largest rice producers. It describes rice as an essential cash crop for Nigeria, with small scale farmers accounting for 80% of production but just 20% of consumption. In one report produced by Bloomberg on Nigeria’s rice consumption and production says domestic demand for rice rose by 4% to hit 6.7 m tonnes during the 2017/2018 season. After many reports show that Nigeria imported 2.6 m tonnes of rice in 2017 along, the government of the country decided to curb rice importation and de...
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