{"id":3251,"date":"2026-08-19T00:06:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T00:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=3251"},"modified":"2026-08-19T00:39:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T00:39:33","slug":"food-security-nigeria-lauds-japan-for-3-5m-grant-to-boost-rice-seed-production","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=3251","title":{"rendered":"Food Security: Nigeria lauds Japan for $3.5m grant to boost rice seed production"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>*<strong><em>The Japanese Government provides equivalent $3.5 million to Nigeria as part of measures to boost rice seed production, agricultural productivity, as well as food security in the West African country <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Gbenga Kayode | ConsumerConnect<\/p>\n<p>The Nigerian Government has applauded the Japanese Government for continued support for improved agricultural productivity in the country.<\/p>\n<p><em>ConsumerConnect<\/em> reports Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, Honourable Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, stated this in his keynote address at the recent formal handing-over ceremony of the Project for the Enhancement of Rice Seeds Production System.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"JzdgdDATPz\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=3242\">FCCPC: Cement costlier in Nigeria than Kenya, Tanzania, S&#8217;Africa, others over alleged price fixing, anti-competition<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"\u201cFCCPC: Cement costlier in Nigeria than Kenya, Tanzania, S\u2019Africa, others over alleged price fixing, anti-competition\u201d \u2014 Consumer Experience Is A Top Priority\" src=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=3242&amp;embed=true#?secret=XQ2G1PU04Y#?secret=JzdgdDATPz\" data-secret=\"JzdgdDATPz\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The event held at the National Cereals Research Institute (NCRI), Badeggi, in Katcha Local Government Area (LGA) of Niger State.<\/p>\n<p>Senator Abdullahi also commended the people of Japan and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for their consistent support for agricultural development across Nigeria.<\/p>\n<p>In a fresh move to help in advancing Nigeria&#8217;s agricultural sector, the Japanese Government has provided about 587 million Japanese Yen, equivalent to $3.5 million, to boost rice seed production and agricultural productivity cum food security.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Envoy: Quality of certified seeds will increase yields, productivity of farmers <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Speaking at the event in Niger State, Mr. Hideo Suzuki, Japanese Ambassador to Nigeria, disclosed this at the handing-over ceremony of the Project for the Enhancement of Rice Seeds Production System at the NCRI, Badeggi.<\/p>\n<p>Suzuki said the agricultural production project would strengthen NCRI capacity to produce high-quality breeder and foundation rice seeds.<\/p>\n<p>The envoy also noted that the effort would improve the quality of certified seeds supplied to Nigerian farmers nationwide, and ultimately, increase yields, productivity and confidence in the seed system.<\/p>\n<p>Agriculture, he stated, remains a cornerstone of the Nigerian economy and food security.<\/p>\n<p>Suzuki further stressed that growing demand for rice continued to outpace domestic production.<\/p>\n<p>The envoy affirmed the Federal Government&#8217;s Second National Rice Development Strategy (2020\u20132030) has set the goal of doubling domestic rice production by 2030.<\/p>\n<p>He emphasised that Japan is supporting the strategy through the seed project.<\/p>\n<p>Suzuki, therefore, restated that quality seed is fundamental to successful agriculture.<\/p>\n<p>He as well explained that modern farming technologies and good agronomic practices could only reach their full potential when farmers have access to reliable planting materials.<\/p>\n<p>He also stated: \u201cGood seed is the beginning of a good harvest.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Japanese Ambassador disclosed that the grant would finance modern agricultural equipment for NCRI Headquarters, and its outstations in Niger and Oyo states, comprising 20 medium-sized tractors, three rice transplanters, four small combine harvesters, and two excavators for seed cultivation and production.<\/p>\n<p>Among other required equipment are four constant-temperature germination testers, three sets of automatic weather observation systems for testing purposes and seven small flat drying machines for post-harvest processing.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>*The Japanese Government provides equivalent $3.5 million to Nigeria as part of measures to boost rice seed production, agricultural productivity, as well as food security&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, Honourable Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security (middle) with Other Top Officials at the Handing-over Ceremony of the Project for the Enhancement of Rice Seeds Production System in Nigeria, Held in Badeggi, Niger State","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","_customify_content_layout":"","_customify_sidebar":"","_customify_page_header_display":"default","_customify_disable_header":"","_customify_disable_header_top":"","_customify_disable_header_main":"","_customify_disable_header_bottom":"","_customify_disable_page_title":"","_customify_disable_content_vertical_padding":"","_customify_disable_footer_top":"","_customify_disable_footer_main":"","_customify_disable_footer_bottom":"","_customify_breadcrumb_display":"","_customify_header_transparent_display":"default","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,3,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-highlights","category-infoeducation","category-markets"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Abdullahi-and-Japanese-Ambassador-in-Rice-Seed-Grant-cc.png",672,365,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Abdullahi-and-Japanese-Ambassador-in-Rice-Seed-Grant-cc-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Abdullahi-and-Japanese-Ambassador-in-Rice-Seed-Grant-cc-300x163.png",300,163,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Abdullahi-and-Japanese-Ambassador-in-Rice-Seed-Grant-cc.png",672,365,false],"large":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Abdullahi-and-Japanese-Ambassador-in-Rice-Seed-Grant-cc.png",672,365,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Abdullahi-and-Japanese-Ambassador-in-Rice-Seed-Grant-cc.png",672,365,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Abdullahi-and-Japanese-Ambassador-in-Rice-Seed-Grant-cc.png",672,365,false]},"author_info":{"info":["ConsumerConnect"]},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?cat=20\" rel=\"category\">Highlights<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?cat=3\" rel=\"category\">InfoEducation<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?cat=4\" rel=\"category\">Markets<\/a>","tag_info":"Markets","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3251"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3274,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3251\/revisions\/3274"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}