A tripartite agreement led by the Dangote Rice Limited have been signed with
rice farmers and Sokoto State government expected to boost rice production,
even as Dangote group has decried huge forex on rice importation, reports NaijaAgroNet.
The partnership, NaijaAgroNet
gathered is expected to create some 16,000 jobs for outgrower rice farmers in
Sokoto State, so as to ensure the success of the scheme to make Nigeria self-sufficient
in rice cultivation.
The agreement, NaijaAgroNet
also reported, was signed during the
launch of the Dangote rice outgrower scheme in Goronyo, Goronyo Local
government, Sokoto State, which was witnessed by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad
Abubakar. Farmers were presented with rice seeds, fertilizers, nets,
agro-chemicals.
Chairman of Dangote Rice Limited, Aliko Dangote said he was
moved to go into rice cultivation because of the genuine interest of the
Federal government to revive agriculture as the mainstay of the economy, and
reduce importation of foods that could be produced locally.
He decried that Nigeria consumes 6.5 Metric tonnes of rice
which costs the nation over 2 billion dollars annually, and pointed out that it
is heartening that the government now has policy direction that encourages
private sector’s active participation in agriculture.
“Buoyed by the policy direction of the federal government,
we at Dangote decided to key into this by establishing Dan gone Rice Limited to
partner with states to redress the present situation where a huge sumo forex is
spent on importation of rice.
“In the next three years we want to produce one million tons
of quality rice and make it available and affordable to the people. We hope to
do 150, 000 ha and when we are done, Nigeria will not have anything to do with
importation of rice.
“Dangote Rice outgrowers scheme is committed to creating
significant number of jobs, increasing the incomes of smallholders farmers and
ensuring food security in the country by providing high quality seeds,
fertilizers and agro-chemicals as well as technical assistance on best agricultural
practice to farmers.
“This Scheme will help to diversify the economy, alleviate
poverty and reduce the nation’s import bill. The scheme has been designed as a
one stop solution for the rice value chain,” he stated.
The Dangote Rice Project Director, Robert Coleman, said the
Sokoto operation was a demonstration phase to familiarize the farming community
with the programme, train extension workers and lead farmers as well as test
modern technologies.
He noted that they would have 25,000 ha cultivated by nearly
50,000 outgrowers in 2017 in addition to hundreds of jobs expected to be created
by the end of that year.
In his remarks, Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal expressed
delight at the event, saying the coming of Dangote to invest in the state was
as a result of his sustained effort towards inviting prospective investors to
the state.
He said the state under the scheme, just as it had done with
the federal government, would distribute nets, water pumping machines and
fertiliser T subsidised prices to help the farmers have good yield.
The state Commissioner for Agriculture, Alhaji Umar
Tambuwal, disclosed that the scheme would cover 10 local governments in the
stated and that the state government is committing several millions of naira to
support the famers in the scheme.
According to him, “the farmers participating in the 5000 ha
pilot scheme, the state government is giving out free nets to fight against
queue a birds during production which is costing the state N48 million. The
state will release and sell 5000 units of water pump worth N170 million at a
subsidised rate of N10, 000 each.
“We will also distribute 5000 bags rice seed (Faro 44) worth
N32.5 million while fertilizer will be sold 50 per cent subsidised rate to
complement the outgrower farmers.”
Sultan Muhammadu Sa'ad Abubakar however, commended President
Buhari for his diversifying efforts, urging Nigerians to pray for him.
He commended the Sokoto State government for the
encouragement and support being given to the outgrowers scheme, saying it is a
thing of joy that the state is also involved by way of giving the famers some of
the inputs needed so that the scheme could succeed.
The National President of Rice Farmers Association, Alhaji
Aminu Goronyo described the scheme as one of the potential means of making rice
available and at low cost to the people because the farmers are encouraged to
put all their best into it.
He said he has no doubt the scheme would success because it
a private sector driven and that given the pedigree of the Alhaji Dangote in
business, he was sure there the scheme would be sustainable and sooner than
later other states will key into it.
Isaac Oyimah/GEE
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