According to the World Markets and Trade Report of the USDA, Nigeria imported three million metric tonnes of rice in 2018, which is 400,000 metric tonnes more than the quantity of the product imported in 2017.

The report also stated that Nigeria’s local rice production dropped from 2016 to 2018 compared to 2015.

The report, released in October, showed that since 2016, Nigeria had consistently milled 3,780,000 metric tonnes annually – a drop from 3,941,000 metric tonnes recorded in 2015.

“We have cut down rice importation by 90% in two and a half years otherwise we are spending $5 million a day importing rice. Nigeria rice is better than rice we are importing from anywhere it is fresh and healthier.”

“If we continue our habits of importing, shifting all the dollars away from home we are causing ourselves very serious problems”  Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh said at the 2018 Seed Fair and Farmers’ Field Day held in October at Abuja.