Kebbi targets 2.5 mmt rice production to inch Nigeria closer to sufficiency

Dry season farming, a standard practice in northern Nigeria, has kicked off with thousands of excited and optimistic farmers returning to grow rice and hoping to repeat the feat of bountiful harvests recorded last year.
In Kebbi State (the pioneer location for the Central Bank of Nigeria’s  Anchor Borrowers’ Programme which supports farmers with loans and inputs) a target of 2.5 million metric tonnes of rice paddy has been set for the dry season planting alone. Last year’s harvest was 1.1million metric tonnes.
This year, more people are trooping to the farms to grow rice as the commodity becomes lucrative, trading favourably in the local market and also highly sought after by neighbouring countries such as Niger, Chad, and Cameroun, from where traders come to purchase with CFA, a currency with a value that has been strengthened by the depreciation of the naira.
Garuba Dandiga, Kebbi state commissioner for Agriculture told BusinessDay in an interview, that as part of  moves to encourage farmers and achieve this year’s target, the state government will make 10,000 tonnes of fertilisers (both NPK and Urea) available this month, so as to bolster this year’s rice production.
Dandiga also said that the state is targeting a production of 2.5 million metric tonnes of rice paddy, more than double of the 1.1 million metric tonnes produced last year.
However, as at the time of BusinessDay’s recent visit to Kebbi, farmers had not been provided with inputs, either through the government or the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) yet the fields were already covered with rice shoots.
Farmers have been spurred to go fully into rice production as the initial boost by the ABP launched in 2015 has given many of them the confidence to take off with little or no support. Nevertheless, the support remains crucial for many farmers to achieve optimum results.
“The Anchor Borrowers’ Programme created jobs; directly and indirectly, and it has now induced patriotism and the zeal by almost everyone to go into farming. It has made farming a real business and that has made people to go ahead on their own, even before government intervention.  We have seen the benefits,” said Dandiga on farmers’ enthusiasm.
Speaking with BusinessDay correspondent, many farmers said they have added to the land cultivated last year and rice farmers association heads suggest the same applies to virtually every farmer. Most do not buy the land, they acquire on rent or lease of three to five years. While the euphoria to grow rice has created excitement to benefit from the fledging rice business, it also appears to be breeding a less suitable trend, as many land owners are taking back their land to also partake in the “rice boom”.
Umar Alhassan, chairman for rice farmers in Jega local government area, said “Almost everyone is now a farmer, even those who have never been in the business. This year, some used their money to acquire land, while some collected their ancestral land.
“There have been issues of land grabs and we are setting up a reconciliation committee. Presently, there are three pending cases before us and I believe there are others in courts,” Alhassan said.
Yusuf Gabe, a rice farmer in Argungu also said, “If you are renting farm from somebody, they now tell you that they want to divide the land among themselves, especially if the owner of the land has died. They will meet the person who is renting, even if you have balance with them, and offer to pay you the balance of the remaining years you have with them
“When things happen like this, they balance the money, collect the land and share among themselves because farming is now a big business and everyone wants to be involved, especially the youth,” Gabe added.
“It is illegal and unlawful,” said Olaitan Akinnubi, managing partner at Olaitan Akinnubi LP, who weighed in on the trend.
Akinnubi added, “Once there is a valid lease in place, the lessee i.e. the tenant must use the number of years the parties have agreed. If the position has to change, there must also be a mutual agreement between the parties as the landlord cannot forcefully take back his land.
“It is pure trespass and it entitles the lessee to an action against the landlord,” Akinnubi said.
For Gabe, however, there is no need to make a big deal out of land owners taking back their land as he explained “You who is renting is aware of the situation and know this will happen because everybody wants to go into farming, so I don’t think there’s any dispute other than to just hand over to them.
“For me, they give me my balance, carry their land and I go to look for another one,” he said.
When BusinessDay visited Kebbi last year, it was revealed that 40,000 farmers became millionaires from the rice production which followed the introduction of the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP). The arithmetic seems quite simple. A hectare of rice farm gave a yield of 90 bags of rice paddy on optimally performing land, while the least was about 75 bags.

Cultivating only one hectare and a bag of rice paddy selling for N12,000 implied returns of between N900,000 to N1,080,000 for most farmers. Many however cultivated more than one hectare and conveniently hit the million naira mark.
This year, it appears more farmers want to be become “members of the millionaire rice farmers club” as evidenced by the increasing interest in rice cultivation, and farming in general.

 

CALEB OJEWALE