How Nigeria produced 3.7m Tonnes of Rice in 2017

Sat, Mar 17, 2018 | By publisher


Agriculture, Featured

Nigeria accords rice production high priority in the last seven years resulting in peak production of 3.7 million tonnes in 2017, with more potential to raise productivity, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers

By Anayo Ezugwu

PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS, PwC, Nigeria has said that Nigeria needs to increase its rice production to 7.2 million tonnes in the next five years to meet local demands. To achieve this, it estimated that Nigeria will need to at least triple its current stock of machinery over the same period.

In its latest report entitled: “Boosting Rice Production through Increased Mechanisation”, PwC Nigeria said rice is one of the most consumed staples in Nigeria, with consumption per capita of 32kg.

It stated that in the past decade, consumption has increased by 4.7 percent, almost four times the global consumption growth, and reached 6.4 million tonnes in 2017 – accounting for 20 percent of Africa’s consumption.

The report noted that as at 2011, rice accounted for 10 percent of household food spending, and 6.6 percent of total household spending. Given the importance of rice as a staple food in Nigeria, PwC Nigeria said boosting its production has been accorded high priority by the government in the past seven years. Significant progress has been recorded; rice production in Nigeria reached a peak of 3.7 million tonnes in 2017.

“Despite this improvement, comparatively, Nigeria’s rice statistics suggest there is an enormous potential to raise productivity and increase production. Yields have remained at 2 tonne per hectare, which is about half of the average achieved in Asia. In addition, as population increases, along with rural to urban migration, ensuring food security in key staples becomes critical. However, food security cannot be achieved by a system that depends almost entirely on human muscle power and other manual methods.

“Globally, rice production has grown at an annual average of 1.0 percent over the past decade, reaching 486.7 million tonnes in 2017. Most of this growth has come from Asia, accounting for 89 percent of global output. China and India are the largest producers, each with a share of 29.6 percent and 22.6 percent of global production, respectively.

Nigeria's Rice Industry at a glance
Nigeria’s Rice Industry at a glance

“In the rest of the world, rice production has raised steadily over the past decades, accounting for 15 percent of total production by 2017, a marginal increase from 12 percent in the last two decades. Global rice consumption remains strong, driven by both population and economic growth in Asia and Africa. Over the past two decades, rice demand increased at an annual average of 1.2 percent to reach 481.6 4 million tonnes in 2017,” it said.

The report stated that Nigeria’s mechanisation has remained low at 0.3 hp/ha, relative to 2.6hp/ha in India and 8 hp/ha in China. It noted that the number of agricultural tractors is estimated around 22,000, relative to 1 million and 2.5 million in China and India, respectively. Low income, limited access to affordable financing and the lack of technical skills have limited the adoption of mechanisation across the rice value chain.

“We estimate that increasing the mechanisation rate in Nigeria from 0.3hp/ha to 0.8hp/ha in the next five years, can double rice production to 7.2 million tonnes. To achieve this, we estimate that Nigeria will need to at least triple its current stock of machinery over the same period. In addition to raising production, adequately increasing mechanisation has the capacity to raise yields, increase labour productivity, reduce post-harvest losses, increase income generated by farmers and deepen import substitution.”

PwC Nigeria said the country’s mechanisation gap provides numerous opportunities for investment across the agricultural value chain. It said to attract the required investment the government needs to create an enabling environment that ensures mechanisation is profitable. In terms of priorities, the government should concentrate on: addressing challenges around land tenure and ownership, providing rural infrastructure and extension services, and ensuring incentives are transparent and accessible to all investors.

– Mar. 17, 2018 @ 4:30 GMT |

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