Price of rice in Nigeria is set to fall. President Muhammadu Buhari said the plan will take place after the country launches 13 pyramids of rice paddy.
The price of the staple food in Nigeria had increased when the government closed the Seme border between Nigeria and Benin Republic in August 2019. They explained the decision was to strengthen the agricultural sector and curb massive smuggling activities, especially of rice, on that corridor.
The rice pyramids made of 1 million rice paddy was achieved through the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP), a programme launched in 2015 to boost agricultural production and reverse Nigeria’s negative balance of payments on food. President Muhammadu Buhari said the pyramid measure will aid efforts at reducing the price of rice in Nigeria.
Economic growth
“The significance of today’s occasion can be better understood by looking at the various economic strides the administration has achieved through agriculture. When we assumed the reins of leadership of this country in 2015, the administration identified the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme as an essential policy instrument for achieving economic diversification through agriculture,” he said.
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To achieve this, the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme was designed to encourage investments in agriculture and empower smallholder farmers as drivers of transformation in the agricultural sector and as critical enablers of economic growth.
“I am indeed delighted that the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme continues to receive commendations, since its introduction six years ago, as it has become one of the reference points in the administration’s agricultural revolution effort,” the president said.
According to him, the country can boast of producing over 7.5 million metric tons of rice annually, with over four million farmers benefiting from the programme.
