High cost drags rice output to 5.61m MT, lowest in four years

Nigeria’s rice production has dropped to its lowest level in four years, as rising costs force farmers to scale back cultivation.

Data from the United States Department of Agriculture showed that rice output declined by 7 per cent to 5.23 million metric tons in the 2024/2025 season from 5.61 million MT in 2023/2024.

This marks the lowest production level since 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted farming.

Farmers, as reported by BusinessDay on Monday, cite soaring input prices, insecurity, climate change, and an influx of cheaper foreign rice as major challenges.

“Prices on all inputs have increased four or five times already, and they still keep rising.

“Incentives to grow rice are no longer there. Demand from millers has declined, no more federal government intervention and the markets are flooded with cheaper imported rice products,” said Muhammed Augie, former chairman of the Rice Farmers Association in Kebbi State.

Many farmers have switched to lower-cost crops, while others have cut down on their farmland.

A rice farmer in Jigawa, Ahmed Idris, reduced his farmland from five hectares to two, citing unaffordable input costs.

“The money I spent cultivating five hectares two or three years ago can only cultivate two hectares,” he said.

The suspension of the Anchor Borrowers Programme, a government-backed initiative aimed at boosting rice production, has worsened the situation.

Despite previous gains under Nigeria’s ‘rice revolution,’ the country still struggles with low yields compared to peers like Ethiopia, South Africa, and Kenya.

Millers are also under pressure, with paddy prices doubling to between N70,000 and N80,000 per 80kg bag.

“A large number of millers have shut down operations owing to rising production costs,” said the national chairman of the Rice Millers Association of Nigeria, Peter Dama.