Key highlights:
- Nigeria is the leading rice producer in Africa with 70 per cent growth in production in the last decade.
- Milled rice production was an estimated five million metric tonnes in 2022
- Rice consumption increased by 4.7 per cent in past decade
Nigeria now accounts for 70% of Africa’s milled rice production growth over the past decade and is expected to grow 10% by 2025.
This was disclosed on Tuesday by Mr Isaiah Gabriel, the Country Programme Manager of Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, during an interview with NAN.
He added that the war in Ukraine is one of the major reasons rice demand and consumption will rise globally.
More on the growth
Mr Isaiah Gabriel said Nigeria is the leading rice producer in Africa with 70 per cent growth in production in the last decade, which he attributed largely due to increased demand for rice and government support for production, he said;
- “Milled rice production was an estimated five million metric tonnes in 2022, with a 10 per cent projected production to increase by 2025.
- “In the past decade, rice consumption increased by 4.7 per cent in the country, almost four times the global consumption growth. Due to the war in Ukraine, rice demand and consumption is expected to rise even more worldwide,
More agriculture growth
Nigeria has recorded improved crop production recently, as Nigeria now accounts for over 70% of yams produced in the world and is also a leading producer of cassava and sweet potato, according to theNational Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI)
Director/HOD, of the Crop Research Operations Department Dr Nnamdi Eke, noted that Nigeria is the leading producer of yam, cassava and sweet potato with 34, 59, and 30 metric tonnes, and urged the move into global standard, must come with collaboration between the ports authority and other stakeholders in the country.
- “Development of improved varieties is over 50 for cassava, 30 for yam and 5 for sweet potato. Nigeria accounts for over 70% of yams produced in the world.
- ”NRCRI can collaborate with other agencies to speed up yam export chain and to reduce the level of rejections of our products abroad,” he said.
Eke-Okoro said the importance of NRCRI in yam export chain could not be over-emphasized, citing the rising demand for yam products globally.
They added the institute is equipped with the latest state of the art for determination of food quality traits, saying:
- ”NRCRI has all it takes in terms of manpower, equipment, and technical know-how to be in the front line for yam export
- ”Policies on yam export must not exclude the role of NRCRI, it has all it takes in terms of manpower, equipment, and technical know-how to be in the front line for yam export,” he said.
The backstory
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed in its latest Foreign Trade Statistics Report that superior-quality cocoa beans topped Nigeria’s agricultural exports in the fourth quarter of 2022.
The report stated that the export of agricultural products was dominated by superior quality cocoa beans valued at N74.65 billion, followed by sesamum seeds valued at N38.56 billion and standard quality cocoa beans valued at N14.16 billion.
Total trade in agricultural products: According to the report, the value of total trade in agricultural goods in Q4 2022 stood at N615.42 billion. Meanwhile, exports were valued at N170.59 billion during the period highlighted.
Agricultural product exports increased by 102.59% from the Q3 2022 value of N84.21 billion and by 28.54% from the Q4 2021 value of N132.71 billion.
This in informative. The Nigerian government should give priority the rice production as it is identified to be suitable to almost every type of soil, so long the required moisture can be provided.