The Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) and Tiamin Rice Company have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the domestic and international sale of rice.
Mr Aliyu Ibrahim, the company’s deputy managing director, revealed this information on Wednesday in Abuja.
RIFAN will cultivate quality rice paddy, which Tiamin will process and package using cutting-edge milling technology for sale locally and internationally, particularly in Egypt, according to Aliyu.
He stated that the MoU would be in effect for two years. It was signed at the company’s mill in Bauchi State, which has a capacity of 600 metric tonnes per hour.
RIFAN and Tiamin share a common agenda in the area of rice farming and milling. This is to ensure a sustainable supply chain management of rice under a partnership that seeks to produce, mill and package processed rice of the highest quality for export and local trading.”
With a combined capacity of 920 tonnes per hour from its two mills in Kano and Bauchi states, Tiamin Rice is one of the largest producers of rice in Nigeria, Aliyu said.
Aliyu claims that the company also owns a 10,000-hectare rice farm in Udubo, Bauchi State. He stated that the farm uses cutting-edge agricultural machinery for large-scale wet and dry-season farming.
Entreprenuerng has learned that the company has benefited from six CBN financial interventions. These interventions total more than N20 billion. According to Aliyu, the company successfully repaid four of the intervention funds.
Tiamin Rice Company, according to Aliyu, was the first corporate entity to receive funds from the CBN under the Private Sector-Led Accelerated Agricultural Development Scheme (P-AADS).
Government’s rice policies
In 2015, the CBN, acting on behalf of the Federal Government, prohibited 41 imported items (including rice) from accessing foreign exchange through the official window. In addition, the government prohibited rice importation through land borders and maintained a 70% tariff on imports through ports. These actions were taken to discourage imports and encourage domestic production.
Nigeria’s rice imports from the Thai Rice Exporters Association (TREA), one of the world’s largest rice exporters, fell by 98.4% to 15 metric tonnes between January and July 2022, compared to 957 metric tonnes imported during the same period in 2021.
Flooding in the country is currently jeopardizing recent advances in Nigeria’s rice processing sector. The floods destroyed Olam’s rice farm, which was worth more than $15 million, severely limiting this year’s rice harvest.
