Coming at a time of severe economic crisis, the comment appeared aimed at reassuring an increasingly disenchanted public.<\/p>\n
But that claim is entirely false, as Nigeria is not even amongst the world\u2019s top 10 producers of rice, a PREMIUM TIMES examination shows.<\/p>\n
In November 2016, the Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh<\/a>, said Nigeria\u2019s rice production level stood at 3.5 million metric tonnes, while the country\u2019s consumption stood at seven million metric tons.<\/p>\n In calculating Nigeria\u2019s production output, PREMIUM TIMES will rely on statistics from the Food and Agriculture Organisation, an agency of the United Nations that tackles hunger around the world.<\/p>\n In addition, PREMIUM TIMES obtained an unpublished data for rice production from the National Bureau of Statistics.<\/p>\n This assessment will also rely on data provided by the United States Department of Agriculture, which tracks rice production outputs across the world. The USDA ranking is updated monthly.<\/p>\n Global data<\/b><\/p>\n In its 2016 estimates, the Food and Agriculture Organisation projected that Nigeria will produce 2.9 million metric tonnes<\/a>, which it described as being \u201cup slightly\u201d from 2015 figures.<\/p>\n The FAO data from 2015 showed that Nigeria produced 4.8 million metric tonnes of rice paddy. This placed Nigeria at number 17 in the top 20 producers\u2019 ranking.<\/p>\n The NBS data exclusively seen by this newspaper showed that Nigeria produced 7.8 million metric tonnes of rice paddy in 2016, up slightly from 7.5 million in 2015.<\/p>\n The 2016 data produced by the USDA ranks 78 countries<\/a>, according to IndexMundi, a website that collates, ranks and republishes statistical data from original sources.<\/p>\n Nigeria is missing from the list\u2019s top 10 rice-producing countries of 2016. This category has China, with 146.5 million metric tonnes, at the top, and Japan \u2014with estimated 7.8 million metric tonnes\u2014 at the bottom.<\/p>\n The second position is occupied by India, which produced 106. 5 million metric tonnes that year. Other Asian countries that dominate the list include Indonesia: 36.6 million; Bangladesh: 34,5 million; Vietnam: 27.8 million; Thailand: 18,6 million; Myanmar: 12.5 million and the Philippines: 12.5 million.<\/p>\n Brazil, at number nine, is the only country outside Asia in the top 10 rice producing countries.<\/p>\n On this list, Nigeria stands at number 18, with a production output of 2.7 million metric tonnes for 2016.<\/p>\n Although this is lower, the bureau of statistics figure\u20147.8 million metric tonnes \u2013 is still a far cry from what is needed to surpass the Asian countries.<\/p>\n Even where the 7.8 million metric tonnes is used for this ranking, Nigeria would at best rank 10th.<\/p>\n Mr. Shehu did not respond to PREMIUM TIMES\u2019 request for clarification. But he said on Twitter on Monday that he based his assertion on a report by CNN.<\/a><\/p>\n To buttress his point, Mr. Shehu said Nigeria had recently become a major exporter of grains to other African countries.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t forget that since October last year, Nigeria has been feeding many parts of West Africa, North and Central Africa,\u201d Mr. Shehu said. \u201cMany of these countries have been shopping in Nigeria for rice, sorghum, sesame and millet.\u201d<\/p>\n He said the government had started collating figures to establish Nigeria\u2019s rice production output and will make its conclusion public.<\/p>\n It is not clear whether the figure he was referring to is the NBS\u2019 7.8 million metric tonnes PREMIUM TIMES obtained.<\/p>\n Nigerians react<\/b><\/p>\n Mr. Shehu\u2019s claim was roundly rejected on social media, with many users pointing at the irony of Nigerians paying more for a product that should be abundantly available.<\/p>\n From a maximum N10,000<\/a> barely three years ago, a 50 kilogram bag of rice now sells for above N20,000 across the country, according to Rice.com.ng<\/a>. Only in January 2016, the rice retailer sold the same quantity for N12,500 or less<\/a> across the country.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Rice-Fact-Sheet.jpg?resize=600%2C938\" "\\"\\"")
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