Proposed 2015 rice import ban is acheivable #nigeria

Owner of Goro Farms, Alhaji Baidu has said Nigeria will no
longer need to import rice in the shortest possible time
going by the large production of paddy this harvest season
and the doggedness of the present administration in
pushing its Rice Transformation Agenda.
Nigeria has heavily relied on imports from Thailand, India,
Vietnam and Pakistan to make up for shortfalls in local
production in order to meet her ricing needs.
Alhaji Baidu said areas such as Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara,
have enough alluvial lands for high capacity production. He
said his farm was working on installing two rice mills in
Bagodo(Kebbi) and Sokoto where 100 metric tons and 880
metric tons of white rice would be churned out per day. He
said this would be the largest mill in Africa when completed.
Presently, Olam Farm Rice Mill holds the record of the
largest integrated rice mill in in Africa with the capacity to
produce 36,000 metric tonnes of milled rice per annum.
However, Alhaji Baidu insists that all small holder farmers
need is proper funding. With adequate funding they will be
able to invest more heavily on high yield seeds and other
inputs which will lead to greater production.
Alhaji Baidu was formerly an importer of rice but has
switched to local production and milling since the present
administration of Dr. Adesina Akinwunmi started its
campaign for self-sufficiency in rice production. The goal is
that Nigeria will be rice sufficient in 2015, a goal which
Alhaji Baidu wholly subscribes to. He describes the plan to
ban import of rice that year as “very achievable”.
”I became very interested in the rice production; I was an
importer of rice from Thailand, India, Pakistan and Vietnam.
But due to the fact that we have a very active minister, who
wants to makes sure that what we eat is being planted and
harvested in Nigeria that is what drove me into rice
production,” he said.