As part of the efforts to boost rice production in Nigeria the German Ministry of Cooperation has pledged 3 million Euros to fund the implementation of the second phase of the Competitive African Rice Initiative (CARI) project.
,The states are Kebbi, Kadunna and Jigawa
The first phase of the project ended in 2015.
The project aims to achieve its objective through the use of the Multi-Action Partnership (MAP), a concept that allows for harmonization of regional initiative and polices while enforcing coordination among other actors in the rice value chain in different countries .
The Programme Director of the Competitive African Rice Initiative (CARI) a programme of the of the German Cooperation in Nigeria, Jean-Bernard Lalanne, said the funding which is in collaboration with the German Ministry Cooperation and part from the Bill and Mellinda Gates Foundation in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), is expected to end by June 2021.
Lalanne stressed that CARI is working on business linkages in the rice sector, to ensure that the producers are well connected with the market, processors, rice miller, aggravators, input dealers
He added that the Multi-Action Partnership (MAP) is important in finding synergies between various sectors, which can help in achieving a better result in the rice sector. “And that is while the MAP4Africe has introduced a platform for sub-Saharan countries working on the transformation of the rice sector.
Speaking with stakeholders present at the event the North Central Agro input Dealer Association President, Mr. Adekunle Raufu Lawal said that the involvement of his association in the project for the past 5 years has helped to reduce the importation and smuggling of rice into the country.
According to him, various strategies have been adopted to address low sales and production of rice across the country.
Lawal noted that four countries have participated in the projects namely Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Ghana and Nigeria inclusive.
This, he said created business deliberations and solutions to various problems facing rice in the various countries.
He added that the solution to low production of rice in Nigeria is for the government to increase import duty on rice by 70 per cent saying it will discourage importers.
