Some members of the rice farmers’ associations have blamed the continuous hike in the price of the product in Nigeria on the activities of unscrupulous farmers and middlemen in the sector.

The rice farmers’ leaders made this known in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday in Lagos.

The vice-chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria, Mr Sakin Agbayewa, said the consistent fluctuations in the price of rice could be linked to human manipulations in spite of the government’s efforts.

“As regards the high price of rice, I think we are taking one step forward and five steps backward.

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“Some few months ago, the Federal Government came out with a waiver, giving some companies a small waiver to import rice into the country in order to crush the price. And while that was on, did they mobilise the local farmers? That is where the issue lies.

“Although few farmers were empowered by the Federal Government with a 75 per cent reduction on the cost of production, others were given fertilisers for free.

“Now, the question is this. Those local farmers who were empowered, did they really cultivate anything?

“The main issue is that the rice price hike can be linked to a cartel that wants to frustrate government’s effort,” Agbayewa said.

According to him, while the waiver was on, they actually imported rice into the country, and the price came down, but while they were importing, they were also warehousing.

“Now that the importation waiver is over, the cartel is creating artificial scarcity.

“Also, some of the farmers who cultivate local rice—it’s not that we do not produce enough, but some farmers only capitalise on the shortage in the system.

“And with the shortage, they are now repacking local rice in foreign bags for selfish reasons. They do this to sell at high cost because they know Nigerians have this high taste for foreign things.

“There is a high level of insincerity and dishonesty among our people. Some unscrupulous farmers, middlemen, and even retailers can be blamed for the current hike,” he said.

On his part, the Chairman of the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria, Lagos State chapter, Mr Raphael Hunsa, called on the government to relate with the real farmers for the price of rice to drop.

“The price of rice will continue to go up if the government fails to support local rice farmers.

“The price will go higher and higher because cultivation of local rice is quite different from importing rice.

“And what we can do to resolve the issue of consistent price hikes in rice is to support the rice farmers in the right way.

“Though government is trying, and we don’t dispute that, but they should let their interventions get to the right hands.

“They should invite local rice farmers to a roundtable for formulation of the right policies and programmes for the sector.

“So, we know our problem, they should ask us and we will tender our problem. It is now left for the government to resolve the problem through the normal channel. And with that, the price of rice will come down,” Hunsa said.

He also urged local rice farmers not to sell off the interventions provided by the government, but should utilise them for the growth of the sector.

“We will also use this opportunity to tell our farmers that any input being given to them should not be sold.

“They should not sell it out. They were given the input for continuity.

“The continuity is what government is after. So let government continue to try their possible best to help farmers and not relent,” the RIFAN boss said.

On his part, a rice dealer at Oja Oba Market in Agege area of the state, Mr Mustafa Aliu, said the price of rice rose few weeks back due to the expiration of the waiver on rice imports.

“The price of rice is currently between N70,000 and N80,000 for a 50 kg bag. We can only sell it the way we bought it.

“There is no foreign rice among my products. I sell only local rice, and it’s clean and healthy,” Aliu said.

Also, another trader, at Iddo area of the state, Mr Temitayo Hakeem, said, “With the high demand for foreign rice, we will continue to witness this rise in the price of rice.

“There are bags of rice that still sell as high as N145,000 or N150,000, depending on the choice of the consumer,” Hakeem said.

NAN reports that a 50 kg bag of local rice currently sells between N65,000 and N80,000, depending on the species.

The same quantity sold for between N45,000 and N55,000 two months ago.