The Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) has opposed the federal government’s decision to suspend duties, tariffs, and taxes on rice imports, describing the policy as detrimental to local rice cultivation.
According to the association, the 150-day Duty-Free Import Window for essential food items, including rice, will give an unfair advantage to importers and hurt local rice farmers.
The federal government, in its bid to fight food insecurity, announced the removal of tariffs on rice importation, and other grains including maize, cowpea and wheat.
RIFAN Lagos State Chairman, Raphael Hunsa, urged the government to empower local rice farmers instead of encouraging more rice imports, stating,”This policy is not beneficial to local rice farmers at all. It means the government is encouraging more rice imports at the detriment of our local rice,” he said.
Hunsa also accused the government of neglecting local farmers in policy formulation, saying that if other countries did not support their farmers, they would not be able to produce enough to export.
The association has called on the government to reconsider the policy and support local rice farmers instead. “We believe some group of persons have confused and advised this government wrongly on this policy. Rice farmers are not happy about this policy, we are disadvantaged by it,” Hunsa said.
Speaking on the policy, an agriculture communication expert, Ismail Olawale, described the policy as elitist, saying it will benefit wealthy businessmen to import rice, arguing that local farmers are often ignored in policy formulation due to internal politics.
