₦airaland Forum

Rice millers have raised concerns over the federal government’s import duty waiver on rice, maize and sorghum, saying it is hurting their businesses.

This is just as the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) said the waiver has caused food prices to drop.

The government had, last year, approved a 150-day waiver for the importation of rice, maize, sorghum and other food commodities to mitigate the worsening food crisis.

The policy, which was to run from July 15 to December 31, 2024, was intended to waive import duties on essential food items such as maize, rice, wheat and cowpeas.

Millers say they are having a lot of trouble competing with imported goods in the open market due to other production factors.

Policy reduced prices of food items – Customs

Statistics from the NCS, which imposed the exclusions on imports of staple foods like sorghum, rice and maize, demonstrate the scope of the waiver.

The NCS’ Comptroller-General, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, in a statement two weeks ago, said: “The Q1 2025 waivers on maize (N45.3 billion FOB value), rice (N751.6 million), and sorghum (N2.3 billion) also contributed to lowering prices by 12-18% this year.

“At the same time, the larger exemptions from 2024 on rice (N45.9 billion FOB) and wheat (N2.8 billion) are now showing their full effect after taking time to work through the supply chain.

“The NCS’s duty exemptions on food imports have contributed to recent food price reductions, with effects seen both immediately and over time.”

We’re being pushed out of business – Millers

Speaking to Daily Trust, the General Manager of Labana Rice Mill in Kebbi State, Malam Alhassan Yusuf, said the present administration felt “that the only way to bring down the price of food is to allow importation.

“They didn’t do this directly; they gave licences to two rice mills, Imota Rice Mills in Lagos and BUA Rice Mill in Kano, to import brown rice from India and process.

“There is a rice glut in India that resulted in the storage of rice for a very long period of time. The imported rice might have expired, and a lot of others might be chemically preserved to retain their form and nutrients. This is the rice they are now bringing into the country at a cheaper price. It is discouraging to the rice value chain from the farmers down to the workers, millers, trailer owners and drivers that are affected by the infiltration of rice that no one is sure of its quality,” he said.

Another local miller at Goru area of the state, Abubakar Idris, said he was forced to close down his rice mills when he could not continue to operate under the current situation.

“There was a drop in the price of rice and we cannot compete with the foreign rice that now circulates everywhere. We tried to remain in business, but we had to shut down when it was obvious that we could no longer operate under the present situation.

“It was an unfortunate decision because we had to lay our workers off and shut the factory. It is our hope that the federal government will go back to the drawing board and see how we can get out of the present situation.

“They should try and build on former President Muhammadu Buhari’s effort at encouraging the local industries to thrive. It was a good period for us, and they can still do that to ensure local rice mills survive and flourish,” he said.

Also, Alhaji Abubakar Bawa, a rice miller at Kamba area of Kebbi, told our correspondent that his rice mill had stopped operating.

“We can’t simply continue against these challenges in the industry. I suffered losses, we tried to continue operating, but we were overwhelmed by the everyday challenge.

“The Buhari period was a good time for us and others in the rice chain. But the current position of the government and the infiltration of foreign rice is killing the rice industry. We want government intervention because many rice mills have been shut and more will still be shut due to the challenges we are facing now,” he said.

‘They’re architect of their problems’

A merchant in Kano, Abdullahi Usman said while the rice millers have every reason to complain, they also have to share the blame of their misfortune.

“The truth is that the federal government during the Buhari administration pampered the rice millers. They were given loans, grants and all sorts of waivers.

“The intention was that they should reciprocate and bring down the price of rice, but they refused. They continue to make scandalous profit at the detriment of the poor. People could not afford to buy rice, a staple food.

“So, in its wisdom, the federal government granted waiver to importers so that the cost of rice will come down,” he said.

Daily Trust tried to no avail to get a reaction from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture.

The Director of Information in the ministry, Dr Joel Oruche, neither answered calls nor replied to a text message sent to him by one of our correspondents.

“The truth is that the federal government during the Buhari administration pampered the rice millers. They were given loans, grants and all sorts of waivers.

“The intention was that they should reciprocate and bring down the price of rice, but they refused. They continue to make scandalous profit at the detriment of the poor. People could not afford to buy rice, a staple food.

“So, in its wisdom, the federal government granted waiver to importers so that the cost of rice will come down,” he said.

zero8zero:
You can imagine Nigerian newspapers and their headlines.. " how import waivers crippling local rice mills". These same newspapers are the ones running scary headlines when food prices were soaring.. " Hunger: Nigerians can no longer afford food items", Food Inflation: Foods prices are more than doubled, inflation at 40%". " Nigerian Children are now among the undernourished in the world"... bla bla bla.

When food prices coming down, traders lament. When fuel prices coming down, transporters and oil marketers lament. Who's the real enemies if not ourselves.



End of story. Rice we no see, loan dem no pay back but were smiling to the bank, Nigerians were crying.

zero8zero:
https://dailytrust.com/how-import-waivers-are-crippling-local-rice-mills/

zero8zero:
You can imagine Nigerian newspapers and their headlines.. " how import waivers crippling local rice mills". These same newspapers are the ones running scary headlines when food prices were soaring.. " Hunger: Nigerians can no longer afford food items", Food Inflation: Foods prices are more than doubled, inflation at 40%". " Nigerian Children are now among the undernourished in the world"... bla bla bla.

When food prices coming down, traders lament. When fuel prices coming down, transporters and oil marketers lament. Who's the real enemies if not ourselves.



End of story. Rice we no see, loan dem no pay back but were smiling to the bank, Nigerians were crying.

OYEDIPE:
The Farmers are crying now. When they controlled the Space, Rice rose from 8.5k to 80k. Now you want the government to reverse so you can Smile to the banks again and put people in abject poverty.

Almunjid:
It would be better for import waivers to negatively impact local rice mills rather than allowing greedy farmers to exploit consumers. I cannot understand why Nigerians often display such callousness towards one another. If the government were to close the border, the price of rice would skyrocket, and farmers would be content to see consumers struggle. Conversely, if the government sought to relieve citizens of the high cost of living, farmers would express dissatisfaction. In this context, it seems more reasonable for farmers alone to face challenges rather than the entire country enduring the consequences of exorbitant rice prices.

Peace!