The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has frowned at the smuggling of foreign rice into the country, lamenting that the act will jeopardize the effort of the government to grow the domestic rice industry.
Speaking at the meeting of the Steering Committee of the National Taskforce on Illegal Importation of Rice through Land Borders held at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja at the weekend, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Mohammad Mahmood Abubakar, said the ban on rice importation has brought about a significant rise in local rice production and unlocked economic opportunities for rice investors in the country.
“The resumed smuggling of foreign rice, especially through the land borders, is constituting a serious threat to these achievements.
“Therefore, if the smuggling is left unchecked, it will jeopardise all government efforts to enhance the domestic rice industry” he said.
