Almost six months after the display of 1.2 million-bag paddy rice pyramid in Abuja, the prices of rice have continued to take a relentless northward trajectory. The indication is that Nigeria is not yet self-sufficient in rice production.
Various estimates put Nigeria’s annual rice consumption at approximately 7 million metric tonnes. At the Abuja rice fair tagged: “Abuja Rice Pyramid” in January 2022, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, disclosed that rice production in the country rose to nine million metric tonnes in 2021 from about 5.4m MT in 2015, which was supposed to spell surplus, and price reduction.
However, a survey of three regions in Nigeria by NATIONAL ECONOMY shows that the price of a 50 kilogram of rice ranges from N24,000 to N48,000, depending on the specie and quality of rice.
Consequently, the dream of Nigerians to see the much touted federal government’s rice pyramids translate to surplus and cheaper rice across the country is fast fading away and giving way to despair as the commodity has remained far beyond the reach of the masses six months after the unveiling of the local rice pyramids in Abuja.
In the markets, dealers and consumers of rice are lamenting the scarcity and prohibitive cost of local rice, blaming the situation on the high patronage foreign rice still enjoys in the country.
President Muhammadu Buhari had in January unveiled rice pyramids reportedly harvested by farmers who benefited from the Anchor Borrowers initiative of the government to expand their production.
The government claimed that the low-interest loans helped more than double the average yield of rice and maize in the country and raised the hope of ending the country’s dependence on rice imports.
The rice pyramid which was said to be the farmers’ way of paying back the loans, it was revealed, was to be sold by the Central Bank of Nigeria at below market rates to reduce the price consumers had been paying for the commodity.
But six months after the unveiling of the pyramids, rice dealers and consumers said that locally grown rice remains a rarity in the nation’s food markets as foreign rice still dominates them.
A rice seller in Iyana Iba Market in Ojo local government, Lagos, Bimpe Yusuf said she stopped stocking her shop with locally grown rice for months and counting because most Nigerians prefer foreign rice to the local variety.
According to Yusuf, “There isn’t much difference between our rice and imported rice when comparing their prices. The last time I stocked my shop with local rice it took me months before I could sell it because the people, the majority of whom are already used to foreign rice, did not see much wisdom in buying locally produced rice because it sells for almost the same price as the foreign rice.”
Another rice dealer, Francis, who spoke with our correspondent in Ogbete Main Market in Enugu State, said low patronage of locally-grown rice is a major disincentive to most dealers.
According to Francis, “Nigerians expect that the price of local rice should be cheaper compared to the price of foreign rice because it is grown in the country where the dealers don’t have to pay duty while transporting it to any part of the country, but that is not so. It is even costlier than some varieties of foreign rice.
In the Federal Capital Territory, Nneka Imolele, who sells rice as one of many commodities said, “Local rice remains unstable in the market, though not completely scarce as the demand is not as high as that of foreign rice.
“There are other types of local rice, but not the prevalent sought after Abakaliki rice. In Utako Market, there are only a few dealers that add such to stock because of its low demand and high costs.”
On the cost of the different types of rice, she said, “While a bag of foreign rice costs between N34,000 and N35,000, a bag of local rice is slightly higher. One Derica (sizeable tomato can) of foreign rice costs N500 while the same quantity of local rice costs N600.”
A resident of Port Harcourt, Treasure John, told NATIONAL ECONOMY that she eats the locally-produced rice because of its taste and health benefits. She, however, caveated that the price of the locally-produced rice does not attract her because there is hardly any difference in price.
Miracle Aighigbe, a restaurant owner, in Ogba said that she sells foreign rice because “it’s a good choice for me as a caterer. There’s a difference between foreign and local rice. Local rice, when I cook it for white rice, it doesn’t last. It stays for a few hours maximum of two to three hours and starts having funny odour. That is a bad market because customers get angry when they notice that funny odour.
“So, I stopped buying local rice and depended only on foreign rice. But foreign rice, no matter how long it takes, doesn’t have any odour and it’s sweeter than local rice. I was using local rice when the foreign rice was expensive so I noticed that local rice doesn’t last, it gets sour.”
Mrs. Stella Bibobra is of the opinion that rice millers in Nigeria need to do more to be able to compete favourably with foreign rice.
According to her, the quality of rice grown and milled in Nigeria is yet to match the quality of imported rice, a reason she gave for her preference for foreign rice.
“In fairness to rice producers in Nigeria, there are some varieties of Nigerian rice that taste better than imported rice, but one only gets to see this variety occasionally. I even heard that some dubious rice dealers re-bag this local rice with foreign bags and sell it as foreign rice. But what you get regularly from shops in the neighbourhood is rice with stones and with poor taste and sometimes soggy when cooked. If we can improve on our own rice, Nigerians will patronise local rice more,” she said.
However, a good number of consumers blamed the prohibitive cost of local rice as the reason for their neglect of locally grown rice in favour of imported rice.
It remains tenebrous why locally produced rice, which is N2 million more than Nigeria’s average rate of consumption continues to hover around N30,000 for a 50 kilogramme of rice six months after the rice fair in Abuja
But while rice dealers blame the exorbitant price of the commodity as the major reason for the low patronage which locally-grown rice enjoys in the country, some consumers seem to have other reasons for the choice of rice they buy.
Those who patronise locally-cultivated rice claim that the taste of freshness of locally-grown rice endears them to it despite the price.
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