Recent findings have revealed that several smallholder rice mills in Kano state have shut down operation due to the recent paddy scarcity and high cost of the paddy being experienced lately.
Reports have also shown that many smallholder rice mills have set aside operation pending the outcome of the expected wet-season paddy supply.
However, a visit to some agro-commodity markets revealed that supply of the paddy to the market has reduced as demand for the paddy increases by both the mega rice mills and the smallholder rice mills operators.
It was reliably gathered that the price of rice which serves as a common food staple for many Nigerians has been going up without any form of control. a ton of paddy selling at less than N400, 000 a few months ago is now selling at over N720, 000 per ton.
Ironically, Nigeria has been rated as the highest rice producer in West Africa until recently when it dropped to third position. The fact remains, rice is gradually becoming unaffordable for many households in the country.
According to one of the smallholder rice millers in Kano Alhaji Aliyu Ubale, the business of rice milling for smallholder millers is becoming a no go area for many initial operators of the business adding that many of his business colleagues have shut down operations because they couldn’t operate in the hash business atmosphere created by high cost of paddy, paddy scarcity and high cost of production.
“Most of us in the sector couldn’t continue with the business because we couldn’t afford the high electricity tariff, the high cost of diesel and the high cost of paddy. We have closed down our mills, we don’t even know what to do for now,” he said.
It is apparent that high cost of paddy and competition between the mega mills and the smallholder mills are responsible for the closure of many smallholder rice mills leading to the downfall of the sector that used to serve thousands of people with jobs.
According to another smallholder miller Malam Yakubu Idris, those that are able to remain in the sector have been operating at skeletal level because they couldn’t operate at full capacity due to paddy scarcity and high cost of paddy processing.
He explained that operators of the smallholder mills are finding it very difficult to operate despite playing a very significant role in rice production stability in the nation.
Hamza Ibrahim Garko is a rice merchants in one of the rice paddy market in Kano, and according the scarcity and high cost of the paddy is attributed to the decrease in rice production incurred last year and the previous years due to insecurity challenges as well as the high demand of the commodity by both mega rice mills and smallholder rice mills in the country among other issues.
He advised that the government and other stakeholders in the country should invest in rice production especially during this wet-season to promptly address the issue adding that rice farmers should be assisted and encouraged to grow more rice and the government of rice producing states should also be involved in the processes.
“There should be a strong a nd huge investment in the rice production sector, and the government should invest more to encourage, empower and support smallholder farmers to be able to produce more for the nations consumption. The issue of attaining food security shouldn’t be a round table discussion only but a round the clock activity that will include all major actors across the value chain,” he said.
