Osinbajo forecasts self-sufficiency in rice production for Nigeria by 2019

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has said Nigeria would be self -sufficient in rice production before the end of 2019.
 
Acting President Yemi Osinbajo
Osinbajo made the forecast recently in Abuja at the launch and official handover of Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) system developed through the Agricultural Market and Information System (AMIS) project to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Osinbajo, who was represented by the Special Assistant to the President, Economy Management, Mr. Dolapo‎ Bright, said that the government’s effort to revolutionise agriculture and diversify the country’s economy was already paying off.

According to him, “the effort is now paying off in so many ways, for example; the success with rice has been tremendous. It started with Kebbi , but when you look a rice now it has gone past Kebbi, you have Kano, Bauchi, Jigawa, doing well. You have all the States in the north that are now involved in rice. Apart from Ebonyi, even Bayelsa is also doing well in rice. Probably by 2019 we should be self- sufficient in rice.”

Osinbajo however blamed the high cost of local production of rice on infrastructural deficit, especially roads connecting the hinterland to the city.

“When you look at the population of this country, the population is large, apart from that logistics. For example, you have farmers planting rice in Jigawa state and the rural roads that lead to the farm to get the products to the processing plant is bad, so that is part of the reason why government is putting a lot of money on infrastructure, then you are going to solve all these problems,” he said.



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