Emefiele urges rice millers to embrace backward integration for enhanced capacity

*The Central Bank of Nigeria urges rice millers to embrace the Bank’s backward integration policy on paddy production to conserve foreign exchange reserves, revive local production capacity, and create employment opportunities in the West African country

Gbenga Kayode | ConsumerConnect

In a move to guarantee sustainable supply of paddy and complement the supply from the Smallholder Farmers (SHFs), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has urged rice mills in the country to embrace the Bank’s backward integration initiative.

ConsumerConnect reports Mr. Emefiele stated that the CBN’s backward integration policy is aimed at conserving foreign exchange (Forex) reserves, revamping local production capacity, and creating employment in Nigeria.

Bags of Nigeria Rice

The CBN Governor, who spoke at the inauguration of the Gerawa Rice Mill Tuesday, February 1, 2022, in Kano, Kano State, stressed the need for rice millers in the country to get involved in paddy production.

The new Gerawa mega rice mills are said to be worth N15billion with capacity for 420 metric tonnes per day.

According to him, this is to guarantee sustainable supply of paddy to their mills and also complement the supply from the Smallholder Farmers through the CBN’s partnership with the Rice Farmers’ Association (RIFAN) and prime anchors.

Measures to maximise capacity of over 60 integrated rice mills  

Emefiele also noted the number of rice mills in Nigeria had increased from less than 10, with a combined capacity of less than 350,000 metric tonnes, prior to the launch of the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) in 2015, to over 60 integrated rice mills.

These rice mills, he said, have a combined capacity of about three million metric tonnes as of January 2022, with about 10 more mills scheduled to be commissioned later this year.

The newly-commissioned Gerawa Rice Mills in Kano

The Governor of CBN further stated that the increasing number of rice mills, which were complemented by hundreds of small-scale mills located in every state of the Federation, attested to the conducive environment the Bankers’ Bank had created in the rice value chain through its initiatives and stakeholder collaboration.

In regard to the need to match the increasing milling capacity of rice nationwide with increased paddy production, Emefiele charged rice millers to take advantage of the ABP and the Private-Sector Led Accelerated Agriculture Development Scheme (P-AADS) of the CBN.

He explained the ABP and P-AADS initiatives provide long-term financing option to millers to finance commercial farms, land development, irrigation facilities, and other agricultural infrastructure that would enhance their respective production plans.

Noting that the quality of milled rice in Nigeria could match most foreign brands, he expressed gladness that the Bank’s collaboration with the fiscal authorities had helped to curtail the proliferation of Nigerian markets by sub-standard imported rice varieties.

Emefiele, therefore, enjoined Nigerian consumers to heed the call of President Muhammadu Buhari to “produce what we eat and eat what we produce,” by patronising rice brands milled in the country.

Opportunities on the Nigeria Commodity Exchange (NCX)

The CBN Governor also disclosed that the resuscitated Nigeria Commodity Exchange (NCX) would facilitate grading, sorting, quality assurance and storage infrastructure for key agricultural commodities and also enhance price discovery for smallholder farmers.

Emefiele said the exchange would provide aggregation hubs for millers to enhance paddy off-take and grow to provide futures for millers as well as farmers to lock in prices and operate under a controlled price regime.

In his remarks at the event, Governor (Dr.) Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano State, commended the CBN Governor for not only extending ABP facilities to Kano, but also assisting the state in infrastructural development of facilities, such as the Tiga and Chalawa hydro-electricity dam projects.

Likewise, Governor Muhammad Badaru Abubakar of Jigawa State, speaking at the event  eulogised Emefiele for empowering the youth and creating wealth in Nigeria.

Alhaji Isa Garewa, the promoter to the rice mill, also commended the vision of the CBN Governor on initiating the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, which has turned out to be the saving grace of the country, especially with the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Kindly Share This Story