SPECIAL REPORT: Despite huge investments, Nigeria’s rice production can’t meet local consumption

Ndianaabasi Innocent stared forlornly at his rice farm in Ekoi Atan Ubom, a village in Ini Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State in south-south Nigeria.

“I invested about N400,000 in the four plots, but two are gone,” said the 30-year-old farmer. The land’s poor water retention meant the rice plants were exposed and scorched by the sun, turning his expected bountiful harvest into a harrowing loss. The land, which once held enough water and sustained the crops through dry spells, had become dry. The rice plants wilted prematurely, and the intense heat scorched their stalks.

Mr Innocent said the soil moisture was better and the rainfall patterns were predictable in previous years. Even during dry periods, the soil held enough water to support crops. However, he observed a shift in the last two planting seasons, when rainfall became irregular and short, followed by long dry spells. The sun also seemed to become more intense, drying up his fields much faster.

Experts attribute this pattern to climate change, which has disrupted traditional farming calendars and affected soil conditions in many parts of Nigeria. For farmers like Mr Innocent, the consequences are real and costly. Without irrigation systems or climate-smart practices, crops are left at the mercy of the elements.

Staple

Rice is a staple food for many households in Nigeria, and demand for it continues to rise. With a population exceeding 200 million, Nigeria relies heavily on imports to meet local rice consumption. Government data on food production is sometimes not available. However, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), rice production in Nigeria slowed to 5.23 million metric tonnes in 2024, down from 5.61 million metric tonnes in 2023 and 5.41 million metric tonnes in 2022.

Conversely, consumption has surpassed seven million metric tonnes annually over the past five years. In 2024 alone, rice consumption reached approximately 7.6 million metric tonnes, an increase from 7.55 million metric tonnes in 2023 and 7.5 million in 2022.

This shortfall between local production and demand has led to increased imports. In 2024, importation surged to 2.4 million metric tonnes from 1.89 million in 2023.

Efforts to increase local production face multiple challenges, such as high production costs and climatic changes, especially in the southern part of the country, where farmers rely heavily on unpredictable rainfall. A shift in rainfall patterns could spell disaster.

Under the late former President Muhammadu Buhari, the government provided power tillers, motorised weeders and sprayers, and financial support to farmers through its Anchor Borrowers programme. But many farmers complained that they got nothing, especially in rural communities.

Interventions

For decades, successive Nigerian governments have launched several initiatives to boost local rice production, achieve self-sufficiency, and reduce imports. Yet local production cannot meet consumption.

In 1970, the government established the Federal Rice Research Station to develop improved rice varieties. Four years later, it created the National Cereals Research Institute to support research, seed multiplication, and farmer training.

Regional efforts like the Abakaliki Rice Project (1978) and Ibom Rice Project (2001) in Ebonyi and Akwa Ibom states followed, aimed to modernise farming techniques and to expand local production.

In 1999, President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration launched the Presidential Rice Initiative to close the demand-supply gap. This initiative recognised the growing population and the need to reduce the strain on foreign exchange from rice imports.

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Parallel international partnerships were also initiated. Nigeria partnered with global institutions, such as the West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA) in 1971, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in 2000, and the Multinational New Rice for Africa (NERICA), to support seed distribution, training, and technology transfer.

Also, under the Goodluck Jonathan administration (2010-150, the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) was introduced, with the plans to empower farmers and boost production through improved input systems and private sector engagement.

However, the most ambitious public initiative was the central bank’s Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP), launched in 2015 by the ex-president Buhari administration. The programme reportedly disbursed over ₦1.12 trillion to smallholder farmers, primarily in rice, maize and wheat production. However, there were widespread reports of mismanagement, loan defaults, and allegations that many intended beneficiaries never received the funds. The National Assembly is currently probing the disbursement and utilisation of the ₦1.2 trillion.

Despite decades of government investment, local farmers still cannot produce enough rice for Nigerians.

Farmers’ challenges

In Ebonyi State, a top rice-producing state, farmers face barriers in land acquisition to transportation of crops.

Rose Nwachukwu, a farmer in the Onitsha community of Ebonyi State, explained how the high cost of labour and swampy land, a critical requirement for rice cultivation, nearly pushed her out of the business.

“Rice doesn’t grow well on dry land. You need swampy land, and often what you have is not enough, so you borrow land from others. I used to pay N30,000 and N50,000 per plot for one planting season, but now it’s N80,000 or even N100,000, in addition to expenses like labour, fertiliser, among others,” Mrs Nwachukwu said.

“So after calculating all these costs, you end up losing instead of gaining, which makes you reluctant to plant in the next season,” she added.

John Nnabo from Atikwo community in the Ebonyi Local Government Area spoke about the peculiar difficulty of preparing swampy land.

“Clearing swampy land is not like ordinary land; we don’t have machines. We do everything manually, clearing, tilling, transplanting and paying a high price for each stage.” Mr Nnabo said. He recalled investing over N600,000 in his rice farm in 2023, only for a large portion to be destroyed by flooding.

Transportation has also become a growing concern for farmers, especially since the government removed the fuel subsidy.

“Fuel prices have gone up, and it has affected how we move our produce from the farm to the market. We now spend more on transport than ever. Where I used to pay N500, I now pay N1500 or N1800,” he added.

Rose Okonna, who has four rice farms in the same community, said labour costs and pests are twin challenges.

“Labour is very expensive. You must pay people to help with every process. And pests will also attack the rice,” Mrs Okonna said.

“They come on TV and say they are supporting farmers, but ask any of us here, we don’t see it. Politicians have hijacked everything,” she added.

In Akwa Ibom, Mboutidem Udofia, a rice farmer in Obot Obom, Ini Local Government Area, also decried the high cost of labour.

“To cultivate just one plot of land for rice, I usually spend around ₦100,000 and above. That includes clearing the swamp, tilling, nursing, and transplanting,” Mr Udofia told PREMIUM TIMES. “If all goes well, I will harvest seven to eight bags of 100 kg rice. But birds are another serious problem. If you leave the farm unattended even for a day, they can destroy everything. So, we pay boys to stay on the farm from morning to evening, sometimes for two weeks or even a month, depending on the stage of the rice.”

A community leader in Ekoi Atan Ubom in the Ini LGA, Isaac Sunday, spoke about the untapped potential of rice production in the area.

“Ini has what it takes to produce enough rice for the entire state, if given the right support. Mechanisation is very important. Right now, we clear the land manually. With machines, we could cover larger areas in fewer days,” Mr Sunday said.

“We also need fertiliser support, grants, soft loans, and most importantly, access to markets. Our roads here are in terrible condition, and that discourages buyers from coming in,” he added.

The challenges have driven up the price of local rice in the market. A market survey by PREMIUM TIMES in early July showed that a 7.5kg bag, which previously sold for ₦5,000, was ₦7,000. A 50kg bag sold for about ₦70,000, almost the same as imported rice, which costs between ₦75,000 and ₦78,000.

Mechanised farming, the way to go – Expert

Aremu Fakunle, an agricultural expert in the rice value chain, urged the authorities to promote mechanised farming, especially in areas with limited manpower.

“In the South, it’s a major problem because many young people who could have engaged in this rice farming are not interested in it. This is where mechanisation becomes essential. Small-scale mechanised farming should be promoted, and equipment needs to be made available to farmers,” he said.

Mr Fakunle lamented that government intervention programmes have not met the sector’s expectations because they are not properly monitored to ensure that they reach the intended beneficiaries.

“Intervention programmes introduced by the government must be matched with strong implementation and evaluation mechanisms. This will reduce the misuse of funds and resources by the farmers and the administrators or other actors across the value chain,” he said.

“We know it is impossible to separate the programmes from politics, but those in political positions should engage experts to ensure effective implementation. People with the right knowledge and experience should be allowed to manage government intervention programmes.

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“Also, farmers should be encouraged to adopt best practices. One such method is Sustainable Rice Intensification (SRI), which is currently recognised as a global best practice for rice production. To benefit from it, farmers need access to proper training and skill development,” Mr Fakunle added.

Yahuza Illo, an agribusiness specialist, said the government must find ways to reduce the cost of inputs to ease farmers’ production costs and support research institutes.

“For the sector to truly grow, the government should work towards reducing the price of fertiliser, either through subsidies or input support. Also, they should support research institutes so they can develop high-yielding varieties of rice. With these improved varieties, farmers could produce nine to ten tonnes per hectare, as is common in many Asian countries, compared to the three or four tonnes we currently produce in Nigeria,” Mr Illo said.

“The government should also support farmers through capacity building so they can learn the best practices for improving yield and efficiency,” he added.

Government speaks

According to the Minister of State for Agriculture, Aliyu Abdullahi, the government will support farmers with machines.

“With the state of emergency in food security declared by the president, we are encouraging mechanised farming, which we believe will be appealing to the youths to venture into agriculture. We will distribute machines such as tractors to farmers and also provide training for those who will operate them,” the minister said.

“There are some natural phenomena that we cannot control, like climate change. So in this aspect, we need to change our strategy.

“The idea of the mechanised farming system is to reduce the drudgery associated with all these production systems. For instance, someone with 10 hectares of rice, when cultivating manually, before he could finish, rain has already started and the water has flooded. But if it is done with machines, definitely, it will take just a day or two to complete everything. So these are what we are looking at to ensure that our food production level begins to see improvement,” the minister added.

This reporting was completed with the support of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID)