Ebony Agro reinvigorates local rice production

Unchecked importation of rice threatens Ebony Agro premium rice

In spite of the cultivation of Oryza glaberrima, the African rice in Nigeria for about 3500 years, the country is yet to attain self-sufficiency in the production of the staple food commodity. From the Niger Delta, one of the earliest rice planting and processing regions of the country, rice cultivation extended to Senegal and some other parts of the continent. Yet the planting and processing of food commodity never really improved in the country. Unfortunately, however, the cultivation of the African rice declined in favour of the Asian species, possibly brought to the African continent by Arabs during the Trans Sahara trade. 

By the 1970s, rice had become a staple food commodity in Nigeria, but its cultivation had declined leading to massive importation to fill the demand gap. Successive governments in the country initiated and implemented policies aim at boosting local production of rice having recognized its potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, foster rural development and generate foreign exchange for the country. The initiatives were not successful, with Nigeria accounting for more than 20 percent of sub-Saharan Africa’s rice import, with annual import bill in excess of US $2bn. 

However, renewed interest by government in the agriculture sector, especially rice production and processing may improve the fortunes of the sub-sector. Government set aside N10 billion as Rice Processing Intervention Fund, to encourage local processing of rice. This is in view of the extensive cultivation of rice across 12 states and the abundance of unprocessed paddy in the country. Private sector investors were encouraged to be part of the scheme designed to establish large-scale rice processing mills and clusters across the country.

Ebony Agro Industries Limited, which recently completed a 50,000-tonne rice-processing mill in Ebonyi State expressed interest, was pre-qualified to access the Rice Processing Intervention Fund, to set up a fully integrated large-scale rice-processing mill, which will produce, package, and grade one of the best brands of rice in Nigeria. The company’s flagship products – Ebony Gold and Ebony Pearl, will be milled to international standard will compete favourably with imported rice from South Eastern Asia countries. 

The new brand in the productive sector, which aims to redefine local rice production and its entire value chain in one of the leading agricultural states in the country, is the biggest private sector investment and industry in Ebonyi State. Fresh, highly nutritious and flavoured, the EbonyAgro brand of rice will provide Nigerians with a healthy choice different from the old rice exported by countries such as Vietnam, Thailand and India to Nigeria. 

Engineer Charles Ugwuh, former President of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and Chairman, EbonyAgro Industries Limited said the vision of the company is to take advantage of the abundance of paddy rice in Ebonyi to set up a fully integrated large scale Rice Processing Mill, which will produce highly nutritious, flavoured and healthy rice that meets international standard. This, according to Ugwuh, will redefine the role of all actors in rice value chain in Ebonyi, dividing their functions in a way that is most efficient. It will enable the farmer focus on what he knows how to do best, which is to plant rice, same for the processor. 

“Ebonyi State ranks as the fourth largest producer of paddy rice, the processing of which is ironically currently undertaken by small mills in the range of 1 to 3 tons per day based on primitive parboiling techniques and limited to de-husking and de-stoning with little attention to grading, polishing and sorting. Similarly, the old system where the farmer dries his five to ten bags of harvested rice paddy, parboils it, goes to the mill and processes it for a fee before heading to the market to sell will no longer be feasible. It is not competitive. In spite of the rigours involved, the farmer will not produce high quality rice because he is likely to parboil with dirty water, put the rice on the highway to dry,” Ugwuh said.

Investment in an ultra-modern rice-processing mill by EbonyAgro Industries Limited aligns with the Federal Government’s current policy focus to re-diversify the economy and re-position the agricultural sector to play its pivotal lead role in economic development. It will boost the quantity and quality of rice production in the country, revitalise and harness the enormous potentials of the ailing agriculture sector to create food security, stimulate job creation, while also enhancing the income of farmers. It is one of the four ultra-modern rice-processing mills in various stages of completion across the country, with 13 additional mills by private investors expected to swell the number to seventeen before 2015, as projected by government.

Unchecked importation of rice from India, Thailand and Vietnam may however jeopardize efforts at growing and developing the local rice planting and processing industry. Calling for a review of the rice import tariff to protect local rice investors, Engineer Charles Ugwuh said it is the way forward if the country must be self-sufficient in rice production. “We are just making changes to improve. Unhindered importations will make rice cultivation unattractive to farmers, thereby denying processors access to inputs. More so, we cannot sell against the efficiencies already achieved by the South-East Asian producers. 

“Currently, the wide import tariff differential between brown rice and finished rice is a source of worry to local investors. Whereas the tariff on imported rice is 30%, that of brown rice is 5%. The differential in favour of brown rice is based on the consideration that it is an intermediate raw material, which brings with it the benefit of local value addition. However, many importers have cashed in on this aspect of the tariff to bring in completely finished rice disguised as brown rice as a way of evading payment of appropriate tariff. In addition to the problems of poor process technology and inadequate infrastructure, this tariff manipulation makes it impossible for the local industry to compete effectively.”