The story of attajiri rice mill

The one billion naira agricultural loan disbursed
by Fidelity Bank to large scale farmers in Sokoto
State early this year is having positive effects on
many farmers, as Attajiri Rice Mill, one of the
beneficiaries of the scheme, has commenced
processing rice for local consumption, writes
Mohammed Aminu
"I am a beneficiary of the Fidelity Bank agricultural
loan scheme disbursed to farmers in partnership
with the Sokoto State government. This financial
assistance is yielding tremendous benefit, as it
enabled me to move from production to
processing of rice in the state".
These were the words of Nura Attajiri, a large
scale rice farmer and entrepreneur, who recently
established a rice mill for the processing of rice
meant for local consumption at the Kalambaina
area of the Sokoto metropolis. Attajiri like other
farmers, have hearkened to the clarion call made
by Governor Aliyu Wamakko to local investors to
engage in large scale farming to generate
employment, fight poverty and enhance the
growth of the state's economy.
Nigeria remains the largest importer of rice in
Africa and one of the largest importer globally,
despite the abundance of natural resources,
agricultural potential, arable land and dams
scattered across the country. Rice is a basic staple
in the country and production is increasing, but
continues to lag behind demand.
Nearly all of the country's rice imports come
from Thailand and India, thereby providing jobs
in these countries at the expense of Nigeria's
teeming youths roaming the streets in search of
provervial white collar jobs.
The nation spends about 100 million dollars on
rice importation annually, despite the country's
huge potentials in the area of rice production. This
has become a huge drain on the economy, as
Nigeria earns foreign exchange through oil and
throws it away by importing rice while Nigerian
rice farmers are being run out of business.
Thus, with the expected increase in population, it
would be difficult for the country to sustain such
importation in the long run. Moreover, with the
uncertainties in the global oil market, the nation
can no longer continue to depend on importation
of rice and other food items from other countries
without looking inwards to boost rice production
and meet local needs.
Disturbed by the ugly trend, the Federal
Government this year identified and selected 10
states for an accelerated dry season paddy rice
production which included Sokoto, Kebbi,
Zamfara, Kano, Jigawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Katsina,
Kogi and Taraba States. The states were selected
due to the availability of water in their areas
during the dry season and to augment existing
integrated rice mills in the country. Government
approved the provision of 50 kg of seeds of
improved rice varieties to each farmer that would
lead to cultivation of 230,000 hectares of land
across the 10 states while new varieties of rice like
the 'New Africa Rice' with high yield that will
outperform the local variety, was provided to
farmers to enable them produce more. It is
expected that with the accelerated programme
currently in place, Nigeria would be self sufficient
in rice production while a full ban would be
placed on the commodity by 2015.
It was in view of the need to meet the set targets,
that the Sokoto State government, in partnership
with Fidelity Bank, disbursed N1 billion agricultural
loan to large scale farmers in the state to boost
food production, especially rice and
cassava.Thus, Fidelity Bank acted as the
intermediating institution in channeling the funds
from the Central Bank of Nigeria for the purpose
of lending to cooperative farmers and other agro
allied enterprises along the agro value chain
business.
Attajiri, like other beneficiaries of the loan scheme,
has been a large scale rice farmer at the Bakalori
Irrigation Project for over 27 years. But with the
financial support Attajiri recently received from
the state government, he was able to move from
mere producer of rice to processing. This gave
him the ample opportunity to engage 25 youths
to work at the rice mill apart from the large
number of youths that work in his farm.
Speaking with THISDAY at the rice mill in Sokoto
recently, the Managing Director of Attajiri Rice Mill,
Alhaji Nura Attajiri, said he engages in rice
farming all year round through irrigation but
decided to establish the rice mill following plans
by the Federal Government to ban importation of
rice in 2015. He disclosed that N20 million was
given to him by Fidelity Bank as agriculture loan
to improve production, adding that over N45
million was spent in the establishment of the rice
mill.
He explained that after planting of crops, it usually
takes between three and four months before
harvest. Subsequently, the commodity is
transported to the mill for processing and
packaging for onward sale at the market. "Of
course, we produce an average of 1000 bags of
rice after each harvest. We usually take the raw
paddy rice to the mill where it is washed to
remove the chaff. It is then soaked in a tank filled
with hot water and parboiled for two hours. After
that, the rice is dumped in a steaming machine
and later taken for drying. Thus, it is then
processed in the rice milling machine to remove
stones and impurities and after that the rice is
bagged. So, it takes at least two days for paddy
rice to be processed at the mill before it reaches
the market for sale", he said.
Attajiri maintained that the quality of rice being
produced in the state was more nutritious than
the imported rice from Thailand which has
preservatives. He however, noted that the major
challenge was getting adequate paddy rice to be
able to meet up with the demand of local
consumption.
He said: "We have a lot of customers and there is
high demand for our product because our rice
has nutrients and no preservatives. But we are
facing the challenge of meeting up with local
demand".
Attajiri noted that the plan by the Federal
Government to ban rice importation in 2015 may
not feasible, as local production by farmers was
low compared to the demand for the
commodity. He said ban on importation of rice in
2015 would be counter productive, pointing out
that out of the 50 million metric tonnes of rice
being consumed in the country annually, 21
million was imported from China, India and
Thailand.
He emphasized that banning rice importation in
2015 would make life difficult for Nigerians due to
inadequate production of the commodity by local
farmers.
"As a large scale rice farmer that has been in the
business since 1983, I know the negative effects
of importation of rice on the economy. But the
truth of the matter is that banning importation of
rice in 2015 without commensurate local
production would be counter productive.
"Most of the people that collect agricultural loans
from government for paddy rice production are
not genuine farmers. I strongly believe that it will
take some time for Nigerian farmers to meet local
demand and this can be achieved only if
government is determined to put in mechanisms
to ensure that only genuine farmers are
empowered," he said.
He stressed the need for the Federal Government
to provide incentives and empower small,
medium and large scale farmers in order to
achieve the desired targets. Attajiri said to this
end, government should empower local
producers and processers of rice with loans,
grants and other forms of assistance to produce
more. The Managing Director stated that
government should also sensitize Nigerian youths
on the need to engage in farming activities and
also see it as a profitable venture while capacity
building should be conducted regularly for
farmers on how to use fertilizer and improved
varieties of seeds.
He opined that concrete and genuine efforts
should also be made by the Federal Government
towards mechanized agriculture in the country
and expressed the readiness to commence the
exportation of rice to neigbouring countries soon.
Attajiri appealed to wealthy Nigerians to invest in
the economy, adding that they should move
from the level of dealers and distributors of
goods to manufacturers and producers of
commodities.
"We cannot develop as a country if we rely on
importation of food and goods without
producing it locally. We have tomatoes, onions,
pepper and sugar cane in Sokoto which can be
processed to have multiplier effect on the
economy. So, we cannot fold our arms and
allow other countries to feed us when we have
arable farmlands and the resources to improve
our economy. It is high time our people engaged
massively in local production of goods to create
wealth, generate employment and fight
poverty,"Attajiri enthused.
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