The government of Nigeria has entered into partnership with Dominion Farms Ltd to produce 300,000 metric tons of rice a year and this would be Africa’s biggest production. Dominion Farms is a Guthrie, Oklahoma based farming company reputed for large production of long grain rice especially in Kenya where it operates a 17,000-acre leasehold in western part of the country.
The aim of this partnership as Agriculture Minister Akinwumi Adesina explained to reporters in Abuja is to reduce Nigeria’s rice imports by 15 per cent and cut rice costs by 54 billion naira ($342 million) a year. To this end a $40 million rice farm has been set up even though terms of the ownership was not explained.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Nigeria is the world’s largest importer of rice, at 2.3 million tons a year on consumption of 4.9 million tons, Demand in the country will be 35 million tons by 2050, Adesina said, explaining the key motivating factor behind the partnership.
“There’s absolutely no reason in the world for Nigeria to be a food importing nation,” Adesina said. Nigeria must be a “food self-sufficient and food exporting nation.” Adesina reveals that Nigeria plans to add 20 million tons of production over the next four years of crops including rice, cassava, corn, soybeans, sorghum and cotton.
Adesina projects that in four years Nigeria, which presently imports 2.1 million tons of rice annually, would produce enough grain to see to its domestic requirements. Consequently, this would lead to export to other West African countries thereby giving major exporters, Thailand and India, healthy competition.
The 30,000 Hectares farm will stretch over 30,000 hectares (74,132 acres) in Taraba state in Nigeria’s east and about 90 per cent of the land will be operated by contract farmers. The rest will be run as a corporate farm and for training purposes, according to according to a statement from the Agriculture Ministry. The farm will require 15,000 workers.
Being that agriculture accounts for 44 per cent of gross domestic product and contributes about 77 per cent of all employment in Nigeria this partnership is a step in the right direction, Adesina said, as over 1.3 trillion naira is spent annually to import the four basic food items of wheat, rice, sugar and fish.The government of Nigeria has entered into partnership with Dominion Farms Ltd to produce 300,000 metric tons of rice a year and this would be Africa’s biggest production. Dominion Farms is a Guthrie, Oklahoma based farming company reputed for large production of long grain rice especially in Kenya where it operates a 17,000-acre leasehold in western part of the country.
The aim of this partnership as Agriculture Minister Akinwumi Adesina explained to reporters in Abuja is to reduce Nigeria’s rice imports by 15 per cent and cut rice costs by 54 billion naira ($342 million) a year. To this end a $40 million rice farm has been set up even though terms of the ownership was not explained.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Nigeria is the world’s largest importer of rice, at 2.3 million tons a year on consumption of 4.9 million tons, Demand in the country will be 35 million tons by 2050, Adesina said, explaining the key motivating factor behind the partnership.
“There’s absolutely no reason in the world for Nigeria to be a food importing nation,” Adesina said. Nigeria must be a “food self-sufficient and food exporting nation.” Adesina reveals that Nigeria plans to add 20 million tons of production over the next four years of crops including rice, cassava, corn, soybeans, sorghum and cotton.
Adesina projects that in four years Nigeria, which presently imports 2.1 million tons of rice annually, would produce enough grain to see to its domestic requirements. Consequently, this would lead to export to other West African countries thereby giving major exporters, Thailand and India, healthy competition.
The 30,000 Hectares farm will stretch over 30,000 hectares (74,132 acres) in Taraba state in Nigeria’s east and about 90 per cent of the land will be operated by contract farmers. The rest will be run as a corporate farm and for training purposes, according to according to a statement from the Agriculture Ministry. The farm will require 15,000 workers.
Being that agriculture accounts for 44 per cent of gross domestic product and contributes about 77 per cent of all employment in Nigeria this partnership is a step in the right direction, Adesina said, as over 1.3 trillion naira is spent annually to import the four basic food items of wheat, rice, sugar and fish.
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