LOCAL RICE PRODUCTTION IS A FRAUD.
Nigeria do not have a comparative advantage in rice production. Our yield per hecter is about 1.1 ton while countries like Thailand, Vietnam etc have yield per hecter of between 5 to 6 tonnes.

We can invest in things like Cassava and Sesame seed of which we are the highest producers in the world. The foreign exchange from this will be enough to import rice without harming the economy. Majority of rice farmers in the north are defaulting on loans because they simply can't compete with the cheaper smuggled brands.

The subsidy on rice production is over 170bn which is more than the budget of health and education combined.

The politics of local rice production may sound patriotic but its unsustainable as its based on fraud.