The decision of the Indian government in July to halt the exports of the popular non-basmati rice as a measure to keep prices low in the country is having ripple effects far away from Nigeria.

Nigeria and other West African countries are most reliant on rice imports from India to meet local demands. Although Nigeria has made huge efforts in cutting down its rice imports over the past few years, it still relies on imports to augment local production. In 2021, the country imported $ 5.78 million worth of rice from India.

Following the ban on rice exports in India, local rice millers have been forced to shut down production oversupply scarcity.

Speaking to Voice of America (VOA), Muhammad Salisu Kuna, a rice mill owner in Kano stated thus, “The Indian rice export ban affected us. The absence of Indian rice has led to a shortage of locally grown rice. It is not sufficient to the number of mills and that has caused the price of rice to soar”

The Central Bank’s effort to ensure the country meets its local demand for rice saw the processing capacity rise from 350 thousand metric tonnes in 2015, to almost 3 million metric tonnes in 2022.

Speaking further, Muhammad Sani of the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria noted that about fifty rice mills have been forced to shut down in Kano state alone over the scarcity of rice.

In his words, “The absence of Indian rice coupled with Nigeria’s border closure with the Niger Republic because of sanctions and farmers’ inability to access their farms because of bandits is hitting hard on rice mills”

The recent increase in rice prices

In the past few months, the price of rice has increased significantly in the market. According to an investigation by Nairametrics, the price of rice in local markets increased by 29% within two months.

The latest food price watch by the National Bureau of Statistics reveals that the price of a kilo of rice increased from N555.18 in May to N608.20 in June 2023.

For the past three years, a slew of factors has seen food prices, especially grains, increase beyond the reach of the poor. The war in Ukraine, insecurity, flooding of 2022 and others can be attributed to being responsible for food price increase.

To stem this increase, the Federal government has declared a state of emergency on food production and recently ordered the distribution of grains across the country.

https://nairametrics.com/2023/08/30/rice-mills-in-nigeria-closedown-after-indias-ban-on-rice-exports/

Always depending on imported goods from foreign countries. Why won't the Naira continue it's free fall against the dollar and other foreign currencies?

So it is the raw rice from India they mill in Nigeria and brand it locally produced rice.
please someone needs to throw more light on this

Eat alone die alone

Tofax:
So it is the raw rice from India they mill in Nigeria and brand it locally produced rice.
please someone needs to throw more light on this

Alright, mate, let me explain what this news is saying in a simple way. It's about how India's ban on exporting some types of rice has affected Nigeria and other countries that depend on importing rice from India.

Basically, India decided to stop sending out non-basmati rice, which is a cheaper and more common kind of rice, to keep the prices low in their own country. This means that Nigeria and other West African countries can't get enough rice from India to meet their local demands. Nigeria has been trying to produce more rice locally, but it still needs to import some rice to make up for the gap.

Now, because of the shortage of rice from India, the local rice farmers and millers in Nigeria are also struggling. They can't get enough rice to process and sell, and they have to deal with other problems like border closure, sanctions, and bandits. This has caused many of them to shut down their businesses and lose their income.
As a result of all this, the price of rice in Nigeria has gone up a lot in the past few months.

Now, to answer your question about whether or not it is the raw rice from India they mill in Nigeria and brand locally produced rice, the answer is no. Nigeria imports mainly Indica white rice from India, which is already milled and polished. Nigeria also produces its own local rice, such as Ofada, Abakiliki, and Lake Rice, which are different from the Indian rice in terms of quality and nutrition. The local rice is milled by local millers who add value to the product and create employment. Nigeria does not import raw rice from India and repackage it as local rice. That would be considered dishonest and illegal. That's my little idea!

Why are Nigerian Youths not interested in farming.

Every of our AI and technology are all about money collection and transfers. Why are there no developments in farming and food technology? Nothing in medical sciences and Electricity generation.

We should concentrate less on singing and dancing to solving our existential problems.

Botragelad:

Let me help you small. The absence of rice imported from India put a lot of pressure on the local rice to the extent that some rice mills can't get or afford to buy the paddy either because of higher price or competition.

That's business for you.

Nna eh, but God dey finally

To our current leaders, printing money is better than boosting production level. Let's print so govt can pay salaries and spend on projects, making them look secure. No emphasis on production.
To cap it off, taxation.

Tofax:
So it is the raw rice from India they mill in Nigeria and brand it locally produced rice.
please someone needs to throw more light on this

That is APC scam format.

Only Ebonyi state and a few others produce rice in Nigeria
Forget the Nigerian government scam

Lazy ass black people.
Nobody want to do the hard work. Make easy money and import the nice stuffs

What happens to backward integration, what happens to cultivating thousands of hecteres of farmlands all over Nigeria.
Or we are waiting for government to help us plant, or better still Dangote farm?

A massive window of OPPORTUNITY to encourage local production of rice with an initiative better than the poorly implemented Buhari/ Emefiele's Anchor borrowers programme.

Tinubu should allow the importation of rice through land borders. The astronomical rise in price of rice is outrageous. For how long will this continue?

MadamExcellency:
Why are Nigerian Youths not interested in farming.

Every of our AI and technology are all about money collection and transfers. Why are there no developments in farming and food technology? Nothing in medical sciences and Electricity generation.

We should concentrate less on singing and dancing to solving our existential problems.

All over the world, government use incentives to attract people to a particular sector of the economy. If FG and state government would encourage formation of regulated cooperative societies to access funding and inputs, specialized training to non-agricultural graduates, allocation of lands, provision of security, facilitation of marketing for better product pricing that guarantee profits, insurance service for disease outbreaks, etc, there will be massive boost in exportation and local processing of agricultural products.

But Buhari Government told us we are now self sufficient in the production of Rice

CodeTemplar:
To our current leaders, printing money is better than boosting production level. Let's print so govt can pay salaries and spend on projects, making them look secure. No emphasis on production.
To cap it off, taxation.

Please remove this comment from public view!

Lai Mohammed and APC will disagree with this news

A small Ukraine is supplying wheat to the entirety of Africa. S H A M E. Is agriculture rocket science that Nigeria cannot lead the revolution by feeding the whole of Africa and pocketing billions of dollars in return??

MadamExcellency:
Why are Nigerian Youths not interested in farming.

Every of our AI and technology are all about money collection and transfers. Why are there no developments in farming and food technology? Nothing in medical sciences and Electricity generation.

We should concentrate less on singing and dancing to solving our existential problems.

Competitive advantage. We simply do not have what it takes to make advancement in some sectors. The infrastructural challenges alone is enough to act as a deterent. Abeg appreciate our tech space, dem dey try. They have made something out of nothing.

Simeonjoe1:
Lazy ass black people.
Nobody want to do the hard work. Make easy money and import the nice stuffs

What happens to backward integration, what happens to cultivating thousands of hecteres of farmlands all over Nigeria.
Or we are waiting for government to help us plant, or better still Dangote farm?

Please what is stopping you from doing all these things you mentioned?

MrSinister:


Competitive advantage. We simply do not have what it takes to make advancement in some sectors. The infrastructural challenges alone is enough to act as a deterent. Abeg appreciate our tech space, dem dey try. They have made something out of nothing.

Rice farming is not as challenging as taking on the tech space.....na you no just reason am.....

If India bans exports, then we should face Thailand. #Shikena

leokid866:
Rice farming is not as challenging as taking on the tech space.....na you no just reason am.....

It is a matter of perspective. Kindly check where investors are willing to put their money in. The answer will enlighten you further.

Parachoko:
But Buhari Government told us we are now self sufficient in the production of Rice

It was Lai Mohammed, not Buhari

Opportunities everywhere

F

Tofax:
So it is the raw rice from India they mill in Nigeria and brand it locally produced rice.
please someone needs to throw more light on this

Now you get it. The Lagos propaganda machine boasted alike they always do in everything talked about one lakerice 🤣, I was just laughing here. The so called kebbi rice partner of Lagos lakerice was talking about in their familiar propaganda, but where is the rice in the market today after years?.

What these people where doing was to build massive warehouses import raw unpolished rice from India , mill it and bag it as lakerice 🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂

My brother if you have the chance Japa, it's when you leave Nigeria you will see things wit a clear vision and you will understand why those of us abroad say Nigeria is finished and cursed.

Me dey always tell these akata that forget the hype , Nigeria is a dustbin run by rouges , who rule over Stockholm syndrome suffering paupers ..

There is no polishing a turd. If you like splash $1000 cologne on shìt it still doesn't change what it is .

Nigeria is a dustbin heap. All the propaganda doesn't work out here anymore. Every country knows the truths about Nigeria

MrSinister:


It is a matter of perspective. Kindly check where investors are willing to put their money in. The answer will enlighten you further.

lol you mean investors are not bringing money into farming? Have you checked what constitutes the largest part of our non oil exports?

Time for Naina to embrace production

Enough, it's time every region focus on what they've.