Abdulwahab Isa 
The Competitive African Rice Forum – Nigeria Chapter (CARF-FSD Nigeria), a coalition of rice farmers, millers, processors, marketers, and development partners, has raised alarm over the dangers posed by the federal government’s selective import duty waivers, unchecked rice smuggling, and the resulting market distortions.
Speaking during a press briefing in Abuja, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of CARF-FSD Nigeria, Mr. Peter Dama, said Nigeria’s rice industry, with over 13 million metric tonnes of domestic milling capacity, is being severely underutilized due to the influx of imported and smuggled rice.
Dama, who was accompanied by the Managing Director of DID Rice and owner of a rice plant in Kano, Misbahun Lawam Didi, warned that despite over two decades of public-private sector investment, the rice industry is on the verge of collapse.
He lamented that local mills are shutting down because they can no longer compete with subsidized imports and smuggled rice.
He expressed particular concern over the 180-day import duty waiver granted by the federal government in July 2024, which included husked brown rice among other food items.
While the intention was to bring down food prices and curb hoarding, Dama said the policy had devastating consequences for local production.
According to him, the waiver led to a collapse in paddy demand, leaving farmers with unsold harvests.
As a result, several mills scaled down or ceased operations entirely, and thousands of workers lost their jobs across rice-producing states such as Kebbi, Kano, Ebonyi, Plateau, Nasarawa, Jigawa, Ekiti, Benue, Akwa Ibom, and Adamawa.
Dama also noted that the hardest-hit groups include youth and female-led processing clusters, reversing years of progress in economic inclusion.
He warned that these setbacks are discouraging future investments in the sector and reducing farmers’ interest in rice cultivation.
He further decried the smuggling of substandard rice through Nigeria’s porous borders, saying it continues to undermine the efforts of legitimate operators. He stressed that this trend, if not checked, could trigger serious socio-economic consequences.
“As we approach the 2027 general elections, the decline of the rice industry poses a threat to national security and political stability. The loss of jobs and income in rural communities could trigger unrest, fuel rural-urban migration, and further strain urban infrastructure,” he warned.
Dama called on the federal government to intervene urgently to save the rice sector and protect the livelihoods of over five million Nigerians who depend directly on the rice value chain.
He urged the government to end the practice of selective import waivers, ensure transparency in trade incentives, reaffirm rice as a protected strategic crop, strengthen the Nigeria Customs Service to block smuggling routes, and deploy rapid-response enforcement teams at the borders.
He concluded by stating that protecting the rice industry is not just an economic priority but a crucial step toward ensuring national resilience and food security.
