Rice sellers have said that unscrupulous
local farmers now seize the opportunity
of the border closure to bag bad quality
product for sale .
This has slowed down the sale of local
rice, a cross- section of foodstuff sellers
said in Lagos on Friday
They said that poor processing and
packaging are the key factors
hampering patronage of locally
produced rice.
They told the News Agency of
Nigeria that the scarcity of imported
rice after the closure of Nigeria ’s
borders would have boosted patronage
of local rice but for the poor
processing.
A foodstuff seller , Mr . John Nwabueze , who operates a shop at Alimosho in Agege, Lagos State , told NAN that Nigerian rice farmers need to do more
work on their produce to make their
rice acceptable .
“ The Nigerian rice industry is presently
not doing so badly. It is just that our
local rice processors need to improve
on their final product .
“ I believe that it is the increase in the
demand of locally processed rice,
following the border closure that has
resulted to the recent poor processing
of local rice.
“ At the first week of the border closure ,
locally processed rice supplied to us
were well polished without stones; but
with the increased demand , it is now
poorly processed .
“ After two weeks of border closure , we
started getting supplies of rice with
stones, chaffs and different species of
rice mixed together.
“ It is, indeed , a terrible situation . I am
selling rice but it is not nice and that is
the only choice we have for now . We
are hoping it will get better before the
borders reopen.
“ If we can improve on our locally
processed rice it will be more beneficial
to Nigerians than reopening the border
because the money will now be within
the country , ”
Young-po Reporters 