CEM REPORT, AGRICULTURE | A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will facilitate the processing and sale of rice domestically and abroad have been signed between the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) and the Tiamin Rice Company.
The MoU which will be operational for two years will see the cultivation of quality rice paddy by RIFAN while Tiamin will process and package with state-of-the-art milling technology for sale locally and internationally, particularly to Egypt.
Aliyu Ibrahim, Tiamin, Deputy Managing Director, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja.
“RIFAN and Tiamin share a common agenda in the area of rice farming and milling. This is to ensure a sustainable supply chain management of rice under a partnership that seeks to produce, mill and package processed rice of the highest quality for export and local trading.”
“With a combined capacity of 920 tonnes per hour from its two mills in Kano and Bauchi states, Tiamin Rice is one of the largest producers of rice in Nigeria.”
Recall that in 2015, in a bid to discourage importation and encourage local production, the CBN on behalf of the Federal Government placed a ban on 41 imported items (rice included), from accessing foreign exchange from the official window.
The federal government also banned the importation of rice through land borders and kept a hefty 70% tariff on imports coming through ports. These actions were taken
Between January and July 2022, Nigeria’s imports of rice from the Thai Rice Exporters Association (TREA), one of the largest rice exporters in the world, decreased by 98.4% to 15 metric tonnes, compared to the 957 metric tonnes imported during the same period in 2021.
The country’s ongoing flooding is currently threatening the recent advancements made in Nigeria’s rice processing sector. Olam’s rice farm, worth over $15 million, was submerged by the floods, severely harming this year’s rice harvest.
