By Bisola Adeyemo
President Muhammadu Buhari said the launching of 13 pyramids of rice paddy will aid efforts at reducing the price of rice in Nigeria.
Buhari said this during the launching of 13 rice pyramid in Abuja on Tuesday.
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.
According to him, the decision was to strengthen the agricultural sector and curb massive smuggling activities, especially of rice, on that corridor.
“The significance of today’s occasion can be better understood by looking at the various economic strides the administration has achieved through agriculture,” he said.
“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.”
“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.
“In fact, the Programme speaks loudly in its giant strides as it has increased access to finance by our rural farmers, who before now were virtually excluded from the financial system.
“The Anchor Borrowers’ Programme has so far supported over 4.8 million smallholder farmers across Nigeria for the production of 23 agricultural commodities including maize, rice, oil palm, cocoa, cotton, cassava, tomato and livestock.
“Today rice production in Nigeria has increased to over 7.5 Million Metric tons annually. Prior to the introduction of ABP, the average production in Nigeria between 1999 and 2015 was less than 4 metric tons annually.
“I am aware that the bags of paddy will be moving straight from here to rice milling plants across Nigeria, which leads to the release of processed rice to the markets by the rice millers. The measure will aid our efforts at reducing the price of rice in Nigeria.” he added.
