The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has assured Nigerians that the price of rice will crash within few days, following the decision of the Godwin Emefiele-led apex bank’s to release 27, 000 metric tonnes of the commodity into the market.
Rice is a staple food for many Nigerians, but the last two years have witnessed an astronomical increase in the price of the commodity, to as high as 25,000 to 30,000 per bag, particularly following federal government’s closure of land borders in August 2019, which prevented foreign rice from being smuggled into the country.
On their part, local rice producers have seized the opportunity of the shortfall in supply to increase the price beyond the reach of many Nigerians.
The apex bank, however, said it has directed the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria, RIFAN to distribute 27,000 metric tonnes of rice paddies directly to millers nationwide from Thursday.
The intervention CBN said will eliminate the cost associated with middlemen which impacts the cost of rice.
The direct allocation from RIFAN warehouses across 16 states is sequel to the earlier sale of paddy aggregated as loan repayment under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) to millers from the rice pyramids unveiled in Niger, Kebbi, Gombe and Ekiti States, a source within the CBN said.
According to the acting Director, Corporate Communications Department of the CBN, Osita Nwanisobi, “Kaduna state has been selected as the key location for the paddy allocation exercise which will be done simultaneously in the states that recorded the highest quality of rice harvests during the last farming season.”
The CBN recently unveiled pyramids of rice paddies in Niger, Kebbi, Gombe and Ekiti States, with the Federal Capital Territory, Ebonyi and Cross River slated for the same exercise in the coming weeks in what the Bank says is part of its contribution to ensuring self-sustenance in food production as well as food security in Nigeria.
Before the administration of Muhammadu Buhari took power in 2015, a bag of rice was sold for between N9,000 and N11,000.
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