Annual rice imports reduce by 40% as incentives boost tomato business in Kano

Annual rice imports dropped 40 percent to N219 billion in 2014 from N365 billion in 2013 just as Kano State tomato farmers, who typically lose much of their harvest to rot, are finding succour in a new Dansa Foods tomato paste factory which promises to take all their produce and encourage them to grow more. These developments are coming two years into the take-off of the Federal Government’s agricultural transformation agenda, which aims to reposition agriculture to drive the country’s economy. Expending an estimated N219 billion on rice importation in 2014, the commodity’s import went down by 40 percent from the N365 billion spent on rice importation in 2013. According to claims by a group called ‘Stakeholders
in the Rice Industry’, about 2.74 million metric tons of rice was imported into the country in 2014 through legal channels and alleged smuggling. Though there have been allegations and counter- allegations on this because smuggling is carried out unofficially and illegally, there are no records to substantiate or disclaim this figure. But industry watchers attest to the fact that there was indeed an upsurge in rice supply in the country from domestic sources and imports due to the Yuletide purchases and free gifts by political parties/aspirants to certain segments of society to win votes in the coming elections. Akinwunmi Adesina, minister of agriculture, however, stated that though the country had attained about 80 percent self-sufficiency in rice production in 2014, a supply gap of import-grade rice was determined to be 1.5 million metric tons for 2014. If the alleged importation of 2.78 million metric tons of rice by stakeholders in the rice industry’ is true, subtracting from the 1.5million metric tons officially permitted for import indicate that about 1.24 million metric tons of rice, which is 24.8 million bags of 50kg rice, was smuggled through the borders in 2014. Going by the $420 per ton in which rice was traded in the international market around December, last year, with a dollar rate of N190, if the country had stuck to the 1.5 million metric tons of rice imports approved by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to bridge the gap in domestic rice supply, only about N120 billion would have been spent on the landing price of imported rice. This indicates that officially permitted import exceeded by 45 percent or 1.24 million metric tons or 24.8 million 50 kg bags. However, the estimated total n219 billion spent on rice importation in 2014 is still less than the N365 billion spent in 2013 and previous years, reducing the country’s rice import expenditure by N146 billion or 40 percent as a result of increased domestic rice production. Meanwhile, tomato farmers in Kano State may soon overcome the uncertainties surrounding their business as Dansa Foods, a branch of Dangote Group, commences operation. This was disclosed recently while the tram of the Staple Crop Processing Zones (SCPZ) from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development were conducted round the new factory undergoing test-running in Kadawa area of the state. Dangote tomato pro- cessing factory, described as the largest tomato pro- cessing plant in Africa, was said to have a 1,200 metric tons installed capacity when fully operational.