Rice

By Francis Onyeukwu

For Mrs Ifeoma Okoye, joining the agriculture programme of the International Fund for Agricultural Development-Value Chain Development Agency (IFAD-VCDP) has remained a life changing decision she made.

Okoye, a teacher and mother of four from Anam, Anambra West Local Government Area of Anambra has been a teacher before she joined IFAD-VCDP in 2017.

Two years later, she was sponsored by the international agency for training as a rice seed producer at International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan.

The training opened Okoye’s eyes to the rich possibilities which rice farming has for those who embrace it as a sustainable business venture.

“The training afforded me the opportunity to know that using high yielding rice variety like faro-44 could turn a rice farmer to a millionaire at a very short period of time”, she said.

Okoye said that apart from improved yield, the variety is pest-resistant among other advantages which could make farming a rewarding business.

Besides the inherit gains in Faro-44, she said the Ibadan training made her understood that for a better harvest, a farmer does not require the seed harvested to replant in the upcoming season rather, he/she should go for new improved seeds.

“This is the secret behind the record breaking results of farmers in Anambra and other constituent states of IFAD-VCDP in Nigeria“, she said.

IFAD-VCDP is taking place in the following eight states: Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, Niger, Nasarawa, Ogun, Kogi, Benue, and Taraba.

“Before the advent of the programme in 2015, rice farmers in Anambra were harvesting between two to three tons per hectare, but today with good agronomic practices, (GAP) they get between seven and eight tons per hectare”, she said.

Apart from the Ibadan training, Okoye said she equally received training in rice recipe which enables her add value to rice after processing, even as she was also trained on record keeping, among others.

Okoye said such endeavour could help in achieving food security, creating employment opportunities, with ultimate impact on wealth creation and crime rate.

Mrs. Uju Okafor is a member of Destiny Women Corporative Aguoke Ugbenu, Awka North Local Government Area. She shares the same thought as Okoye on the gains associated with rice farming.

Okafor had also received the training as seed producer at International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Ibadan having joined IFAD-VCDP in 2015.

“I am doing both rice production and adding values to rice via recipe making of doughnut, buns, chin-chin, rice cake, juice, flour, milk“, she said.

According to her, the many trainings received under IFAD-VCDP has enhanced her skill and made her being sought after by many to impact knowledge on rice business activities.

Apart from the business aspect of it, the family eats healthy and balanced diet which has helped improve their well-being, enhanced energy levels, better weight management, reduced chronic diseases risks, and supported optimal bodily functions.

Eating right and well, good personal hygiene has contributed to stronger immunity, better mental health, and increased longevity of the family and thus enabling productivity.

Though, the programme had impacted on the beneficiaries, a lot more were still expected to further sustain the gains already made in the area.

Also, the Programme has helped them to register their businesses with Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria SMEDAN with a view to accessing loans and grants, and other entrepreneurial support.

Mr Fidelis Onyia, an international relations graduate-turned rice farmer from Igbakwu, Ayamelum Local Government Area, is another example in the success story of IFAD-VCDP.

Onyia had been into rice farming before being enrolled in IFAD-VCDP in 2017. But his farming could be best described as subsistence.

In 2018 he was trained on rice seed production at IITA, Ibadan, and supported with starter pack which includes 50 kilogram bag of faro 44 foundation seed.

He began by producing and supplies rice seed to farmers in Ayamelum, Anambra East and West Local Government Areas before expanding to other areas.

“Today, I engage in Electronic Value Chain Agricultural Marketing System EvAMIS Platform which opens the window for my produce to be sold via the internet, among other channels.

“This has given me the exposure to buyers outside the state. Last month, I supplied rice to buyers in Lagos and Rivers states via the EVAMIS.

“IFAD-VCDP has transformed me to a consultant in rice production, processing and marketing, people come from far and near on learning route in the sector from me.

“Because of the new atmosphere under which we operate, today I can say that rice farming is very profitable, this has made me create jobs for more than 300”, Onyia said.

Giving the reasons behind the media tour to select farms in Anambra, Mr Henry Anagboso the state IFAD-VCDP, Knowledge Management and Communication Officer, said it was meant to ascertain the impact of the programme on the beneficiaries and communities.

He said data collated would enable the Programme make informed decisions on the way forward.

Mr Emmanuel Agwuncha, the State Programme Coordinator, IFAD-VCDP Anambra said, at inception of the programme, the farmers could barely boost of three tons per hectare of rice.

“We felt the first step was to build their capacity on good agronomic practices, and supporting them with farm inputs such as; certified rice seed, cassava cuttings of improved varieties, fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides.

“These gave rise to their high yield which transformed farming to an interesting venture for those in the line of production”, he said.

Agwuncha also said that the processors received de-stoners, garri fryers, flash-dryers, cassava graters, rubber-rollers for milling, rice polisher, rice grader and stem par-boiler.

He explained that the Programme preaches gender equality under its Gender Action Learning System GALS.

“This initiative is aimed at effectively helping farmers` households to achieving a lot, understand their roles in the family and assist each other in attaining their dreams.

“We equally introduced nutrition sensitive agriculture to address the issue of malnutrition.

“We supported beneficiaries with economic trees, seedlings for the establishment of home garden orange fresh sweet potato, banana, plantain, orange, pumpkin, scent leaf, bitter leaf and noiler birds to mainstream nutrition”, he said.

Agwuncha said the programme has also engendered financial inclusion mainstreaming.

“The programme successfully linked over 5000 beneficiaries, including producers, processors, and marketers, to financial institutions leading to signing of Memoranda of Understanding (MoU).

“This collaboration enabled beneficiaries to access a variety of financial inclusion products, such as savings, deposits, withdrawals, credit, and loans, among others’’, he said.

Furthermore, the program played a pivotal role in raising awareness among farmers about the risks inherent in the agricultural sector. It successfully linked farmers with insurance companies to enhance their understanding of and preparedness for these risks.

“In pursuit of inclusivity, the programme initially empowered 40 women and youths with Point of Sale (POS) machines across the 8 Local Government Areas.

“This initiative facilitated account openings and savings mobilization among the beneficiaries’’, he said.

The accounts by the beneficiaries of IFAD-VCDP in Anambra indicate that the programme no doubt has produced new era of commercial rice farmers and who are contributing their quota towards achieving Nigeria’s food security targets.

Lagos, Jan.11, 2024: Some rice traders in Lagos have lamented the inability of local rice farmers to meet the growing demand of the produce.

The traders spoke on Wednesday in Lagos that the Federal Government recently reaffirmed its commitment to increasing local production of wheat, rice, maize, sorghum and soyabean, through the provision of relevant farm inputs.

Mr John Nwabueze, a food stuff trader at Alimosho, lamented the growing cost of the produce and the inability of locally grown rice to meet rising demands.

He, however, noted that the quality of locally grown rice had improved and could stand at par with foreign rice.

“If the closure of the border is completely enforced, Nigerians will have no choice but to stick to locally grown rice.

“When there is scarcity of the smuggled rice, then we will wholly embrace our home grown rice.

“Local rice farmers may not initially be able to meet the growing demands of rice if the borders are watertight shut but gradually they will meet up.’’

He said that the reason why most Nigerians patronised foreign rice was the poor awareness of the benefits of local rice.

“We have very good local rice brands without stones and well-polished but Nigerians are used to foreign rice.

“When we started eating Nigerian rice when the border was initially closed, we had a lot of poorly processed rice in the market.

“But now the situation has changed; however, most customers insist that they will rather buy expensive rice than buy local rice.

“We want the government to either completely enforce the closure of the borders and put an end to smuggled rice or officially open the borders for legal rice imports,” he said.

On his part, Mr Temitayo Abdulhakeem, another rice trader, said though Nigerian rice was picking up in quality, it was insufficient to meet growing local demands.

“If the borders are completely shut and no infiltration of rice into the country, local farmers may not be able to meet the demands.

“If we cannot even get smuggled rice, it will be more difficult for Nigerians.

“When the borders were initially shut down, and we had no access to foreign rice, we witnessed daily rise in the price of rice.

“How many Nigerian rice brands do we have? We have only five brands that are of good quality.

“We actually seek the opening of the borders for legal importation of rice but that does not mean the price will drop drastically.

“It is just that we will have more people importing and the monopoly of the few importers will be broken,” Abdulhakeem said.

He added that the traders had not been able to access foreign rice recently.

A bag of short grain rice sells for N54,000 while the long grain rice bag sells at N65,000 to N66,000; Nigerian rice sells for between N49,000 to N50,000 per bag.

Suleja (FCT), Dec. 29, 2023: The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, says the 200 metric tonnes per day capacity rice mill situated in Suleja, Niger, will soon be inaugurated.

Kyari disclosed this when he led Directors in the Ministry and the Managing Director of the Bank of Agriculture, Alwan Hassan, on a tour to the Mabeli Rice Mill in Suleja on Thursday.

The rice mill which is one of the 10 Integrated Rice Mills situated around the country is a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.

Two of its kinds are situated in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)- Suleja and Gwagwalada, while the other eight are spread across the country.

Kyari said that the project would attract investors to come into the country, and by so doing, local production would be enhanced.

“In the eight-point agenda of President Bola Tinubu, number one is food security and this project is one of them.

“What we always stress is not only on production but also processing.

“In the past, we always rely on imported foods but what we have seen today is a rice fully grown in Nigeria and processed in Nigeria and can stand with other imported rice.

“We are very happy we have our mill production and cultivation of what is being harvested.

“We will try to complete and commission this one and the others; we will also look at it in such a way that it will not only be for rice production but also for staple foods.

“This is to enhance food processing because food quality and food security is important and key to this administration.’’

The minister said that production was key to the sustainability of the project hence would work towards enhancing production in the mill.

He, therefore, encouraged rice farmers to make themselves ready as they would be contacted to double their efforts on rice cultivation especially in the dry season.

On his part, Hassan said that the project was not completed because of the challenges of foreign exchange to pay for the balance of the project.

More so, the Managing Director, MV Agro Engineers Nigeria Ltd., Jamu  Dan’agundi, said that the rice mill had a double capacity compared to the other mills across the country.

Dan’agundi also explained that the mill with four sessions such as the intake, per boiling, milling and packaging sessions, was put in place to enhance the nutritional value of rice.

Afterwards, the minister proceeded for a tour to the Nigerian Agricultural Technology Demonstration Centre in Bwari.

At the centre, the minister expressed satisfaction at the level work in the centre saying it would advance seed production and extension service for farmers.

“We have seen the kind of advancement they have done especially in seed production.

“We are impressed with the Gawal R1 rice that can produced up to eight tonnes per hectare so this is a very good development.

“The Gawal R1 variety is sort after by our farmers so we implore them to give us more of the seed.

“This is what the President has directed that we must produce as much rice in this dry season.

“So, we are going to assiduously ramp up the production of rice and we are going to invest a lot of money into it,” he said.

He, however, said that the demonstration equipment would be handy for small holder farmers.

Abuja, Nov. 28, 2023: The Federal Government partnered Green Agriculture West Africa (GAWAL), a subsidiary of the Chinese General Construction Company (CGC), to train 5,000 women nationwide on modern rice farming technology.

The Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, said this at the graduation ceremony of the first phase of the Rice Cultivation Technology Training Programme on Monday in Abuja.

Kennedy-Ohanenye said the programme would reduce poverty, improve food sufficiency and economic empowerment at the grassroots.

She said that the ministry would use the bottom-top approach in its poverty intervention efforts to reach the targets.

She added that “the Chinese company is giving our women high yield rice variety; they are going straight to the farmlands with it for planting.

“These women are totally prepared alongside the pumping machine that we are giving them from the ministry so that they can water their farms.

“This will also help them to plant this rice variety four times in a year, this will help us cultivate  enough food for Nigerians.

“Every stage of this project will be recorded because Nigerians have the right to know what goes on in the country.

“And if we don’t carry them along, how will they know that there is hope and that the renewed hope is coming. We will show Nigerians a stage by stage progress of the project.

“We are going across the whole nation and the women are going into various economic activities. When women and children are busy making money, when will they get time to get into unproductive venture?,” she asked.

The minister said “70 per cent of the criminals and insecurity challenges we have are due to poverty, as a push factor because of idleness but this project will create jobs for people to do and they will make their own money.”

She announced that the ministry has a portal for the programme, where sellers, farmers and manufactures are readily available, with others in the marketing chain, including bankers.

“So, it will be a communal thing. We are trying to get Nigeria to be a community where all of us are one with a united purpose,” she said.

She explained that government would bring innovation in the area of animal farming, specifically cow rearing under the programme.

Mr Wang Xiemin, the Managing Director of Green Agriculture West Africa Limited (GAWAL), encouraged beneficiaries of the training to utilise skills acquired and teach others in their communities to promote activities of women farmers.

He said “as you leave this training programme armed with knowledge and renewed sense of purpose, remember that the future of agriculture is in your hands.

“Your commitment to innovation, resilience in the face of challenges and dedication to sustainable practices will shape the landscape of agriculture for generations to come.”

Mrs Fatima Abubakar-Kure, a beneficiary from Niger, said the training would enable her to acquire skills on the use of modern farm equipment, different pesticides and fertilizers.

“This will enable us teach other women the different kinds of equipment, pesticides and fertilizers to be used for different crops and farming, how and at what stage it should be applied.”

The training also focused on land preparation to seed breeding, fertilizer application and various agriculture chains, among others.

Lagos, Nov. 23, 2023: The Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) Lagos State Chapter, has appealed to Federal and State Governments to pay more attention to rice cultivation in the  country for sufficiency in the produce.

Mr Raphael Hunsa, RIFAN’s Chairman in Lagos state made the plea on Thursday in Lagos and that government must do more to become self-sufficient in rice production.

Hunsa said that inadequate support from both state and Federal governments, lack of modern mechanised equipment and manpower was affecting rice production in the country.

He said there was urgent need for government to focus  on rice farmers by providing all necessary support,  thereby encouraging them to increase production.

According to him, other countries like Indonesia, Pakistan and India support their rice farmers with modern mechanised equipment and seedlings.

“There governments support them heavily and that is why the farmers in those countries produce rice in large quantities.

“What is stopping us in Nigeria from producing rice sufficiently? We have the land, we have the weather and human resources.

“What we are lacking is full commitment and investment in rice cultivation on the part of the government.

“Those countries that we are importing rice from, we also can do better than them if we get the right support.

“Nigeria can also export our local rice if government concentrates and gives us all the needed support,” he said.

Hunsa urged  investment in modern mechanised equipment that would make a difference in the sector,  adding that lack of modern equipment had discouraged many farmers from agriculture.

“We want government to support us by providing all the equipment required for rice cultivation.

“We need to  combine harvester, tractor, planter, and other modern machineries that can move us forward and improve our rice production level.

“Without all these modern machineries, we cannot achieve self-sufficiency in rice production. We cannot move forward if we remain in our local practice, we will just be producing for consumption.

Hunsa, however, said that due to the current situation, there might  be insufficient rice during the Yuletide.

According to him, already, the Lagos state government has stated coming to offtake our paddy rice for the Eko rice mill.

“The little we are producing, government is ready to offtake it and from other farmers too.

“The rice in circulation won’t be enough but we will mange it though it will be expensive,” he said.

Hunsa said that insufficient cultivation of rice was responsible for hike in price of the commodity across the country.

He said there was currently shortage of rice farmers in the country due to lack of modern mechanised equipment and insecurity.

“Rice farmers are not much, we are just educating and encouraging people to come into the value chain so that we can have more paddy and milling all-year-round.

Birnin Kebbi, Nov. 19, 2023: More than 500 students, teachers and parents in Kebbi are being fed genetically modified rice in a test to determine its acceptability for inclusion in the menu of the School Feeding Programme.

The test is being carried out by Kebbi Government, Global Alliance for Improve Nutrition (GAIN), and the World Food Programme (WFP).

The campaign is part of the Promoting Rice Fortification in Nigeria (PRiFN) project, to address micronutrient deficiency.

The pupils, teachers and parents are from 23 schools in Argungu, Kalgo and Birnin Kebbi Local Government Areas of the state.

Prof. Oluwatosin Adu, the Fortified Rice Cooking Programme Facilitator, said on Sunday in Birnin Kebbi that Kebbi was chosen for the pilot project because it was the hub of rice production in the country.

According to him, the campaign is to introduce the micro-fortified rice to Nigerians and weigh its acceptability.

“After this acceptability test, we will take the feedback to the federal government.

“It’s expected that rice millers in the state would start producing fortified rice and it would be integrated in the school feeding programme, so that school children and households can now eat fortified rice and stay healthy,” he added.

Adu explained that the cooking demonstration and sensory acceptability test were integral components of the PRiFN project.

“This is by raising awareness of the benefits of fortified rice while showcasing its adaptiveness to cooking methods and local rice cuisines as well as its deliciousness,” he said.

Earlier, the state Coordinator of GAIN, Mr Seun Elere. stated that 23 schools were selected to participate in the cooking and eating demonstration.

Also speaking, Dr Yusuf Abdullahi of Federal University, Birnin Kebbi, said the introduction of the fortified rice would help to tackle malnutrition and anaemia.

“About 40 percent are said to be suffering from anaemia in Kebbi;  with the fortified rice, the number will reduce and more people will live healthier life,” he said.

In her address, Wife of Kebbi Deputy Governor, Hajiya Maryam Umar-Tafida, commended GAIN and WFP for the initiative.

She said that the fortified rice contains the necessary nutrients needed to keep the body safe from diseases.

“The event provides a unique opportunity to sensitise the general public on the benefits of fortified rice and how to cook it,” she said.

NAN reports that the PRiFN project is an initiative of GAIN and WFP to support federal government’s national micronutrient deficiency control strategy.

Lagos, Nov. 16, 2023: Mr Sakin Agbayewa, the Deputy Chairman, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Lagos State Chapter, has urged Federal and State Governments to adopt the Thailand food model in the country.

Agbayewa said on Wednesday in Lagos that the model would enable government at all levels to create specific food zones in states and local government areas.

He said that government could establish rice free zone, maize free zone, cassava free zone and more to boost the nation’s food security using the model.

He also said that establishing food zones would address the present food security challenges, thereby revolutionising farming practice in the country.

Agbayewa said that Thailand had a food model that was specifically a factor for rice cultivation with every necessary infrastructure and resources provided in the zone.

According to him, today, Thailand is one of the highest producers of rice in the world with over 33 million metric tons annually, while Nigeria produces only 8.4 million metric tons annually.

He said that if government could replicate such Thailand policy in the country, the issue of food scarcity would be permanently addressed.

“We want the government to do more advocacy on rice production and the federal and state governments to emulate the model used in Thailand.

“Thailand have what is called the rice zone; the area is factor for rice cultivation and every infrastructure that will make rice grow is provided in the zone.

“All the farmers do is to acquire their land within the zone and tap from the infrastructure already provided by the government.

“Our governments should begin to look towards that end, just like we have Lekki Free zone, they should begin to look at establishing rice free zone, maize free zone, cassava free zone and more,” he said.

Agbayewa said that the facilities, such as irrigation, solar power and good road network, should be created in the zones to make farming interesting and attractive to the youths.

He also urged the South-West governors to key into the model by recongnising which local government is good for what and developing it to commercial level.

He said: “This strategy will bring down the cost of production because there is what we call comparative advantage in terms of technology.

“We want the government to begin to look towards that direction.

“The South-West governors should also be looking in that direction, if they want to boost their food security status.”

According to Agbayewa, rice is a burning issue in Nigeria right now, we produce over six million metric tons yearly.

“Before former President Muhammadu Buhari’s intervention, we were producing between 600 and 700 metric tons, yearly.

“When Buhari came with the intervention by shutting the borders, encouraging rice farmers and rice millers to produce more, we were able to do more to about 4.5 million tons in a year.

“So, if we don’t give Buhari any credit in other areas, we should be able to give him credit for his contributions in rice value chain.

“In spite of that, we still have about 2 million metric tons shortfall,” he said.

Agbayewa highlighted issues affecting rice production in the country to include climatic situation, insecurity, insincerity on the part of citizens and high cost of transportation.

“Sincerity is a big problem to us because they know that there is a blockage on smuggling, the local sellers decide to increase the price, which is not a good one.

He said that rice coming in from Kebbi, Jalingo, Adamawa, Taraba and Ebonyi would end up in Lagos because of the commercial market.

“If you now factor the cost of transportation into it and other costs, the market price of the commodity would be expensive,” Agbayewa said.

“The purchasing power for rice is in the South-West but they are not producing rice.

“That is the basic truth and we should be sincere with ourselves,” he said.

He further said that from Jalingo to Lagos, one would be looking at N2.5 million for one trailer of 30 tons.

He also said that from Osogbo to Lagos, one metric ton is N50,000.

“The cost of diesel and transportation, multiple levy, security levy, toll levy, local government levy, state levy and many more, all these fees calculated would add to the cost of the rice.

“It is the consumers that will bear the brunt of all these expenses just to move the rice from North to South-West or from South-East to South-West.

“Rice paddy is also a major problem.

“The rate people are mopping us rice paddy in the farms is unbelievable because everybody is working towards the Yuletide,” Agbayewa said.