Food Security: Abuja 200 Metric Tonnes Rice Factory Ready Soon- FG

The Minister of Agriculture, Abubakar Kyari says the 200 metric tonnes rice mill being set up in Suleja, Niger state will soon be ready for inauguration.

The minister made this known on Thursday when he led some officials of the ministry and Alwan Hassan, managing Director of the Bank of Agriculture, BoA, on a visit to the rice factory.

He said the government had set up 10 rice Mills across the country through  Public-Private- Partnership, PPP, arrangement as part of the ongoing effort to make food abundant in the country.

Apart from Suleja which the minister said would soon be inaugurated, there are other ones in Gwagwalada, and eight others across the six geo-political parts of the country.

The federal government says the 200 metric tonnes per day capacity rice mill situated in Suleja, Niger state, will be inaugurated soon.

In a report by NAN on Thursday, Abubakar Kyari, minister of agriculture and food security, spoke about the inauguration when he led directors in the ministry and Alwan Hassan, managing director of the Bank of Agriculture, on a tour to the Mabeli Rice Mill in Suleja.

Kyari said the rice mill is a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement with two of its kinds situated in Suleja and Gwagwalada, Abuja — while the other eight are spread across the country, saying food security is among the eight-point agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, adding that the aim is to end food importation.

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According to the minister, “In the past, we always relied on imported foods but what we have seen today is rice fully grown in Nigeria and processed in Nigeria and can stand with other imported rice.

“We are very happy we have our mill production and cultivation of what is being harvested.

“We will try to complete and commission this one and the others and we will also look at it in such a way that it will not only be for rice production but also staple foods.

“This is to enhance food processing because food quality and food security are important and key to this administration.”