N88bn spent on rice, sugar importation in three months

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Importation of rice and raw cane sugar into the country gulped a whopping sum of N88.15bn in the last quarter of 2012, the National Bureau of Statistics stated in its fourth quarter 2012 trade statistics.

The report, signed by the Statistician-General of the Federation, Dr. Yemi Kale, put the fourth quarter importation of semi-milled or wholly-milled rice in packaging of more than five kilograms or in bulk at N56.91bn, while raw cane sugar in solid form was said to have taken N31.24bn.

This came amid a 4.3 per cent decline in external trade from N29.33tn in 2011 to N28.07tn in the 2012 fiscal period.

The report also put the total merchandise trade for the fourth quarter of 2012 at N7.185tn, representing an increase of N6.4bn or 0.1 per cent over what was recorded in the third quarter of the same year.

The NBS stated in the report, “The total value of Nigeria’s external merchandise trade for the fourth quarter of 2012 stood at N7.185tn, showing a slight increase of N6.4bn or 0.1 per cent over the previous quarter.

“At the end of 2012, Nigeria’s external trade was N28.071tn. This was 4.3 per cent lower than the corresponding figure of N29.333tn recorded in 2011.”

The development, the NBS said, was due to a sharp decrease of 43.1 per cent in the value of imports from N9.89tn in 2011 to N5.62tn in 2012.

In spite of the decrease in the value of imports, experts have lamented that N88bn was still spent on the importation of rice and sugar in the last quarter of the year.

This, according to them, is a stark reflection of the country’s dependence on food imports.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, had last year said that the country had become a dumping ground for imported food, adding that Nigerians were spending N2tn annually on food importation.

He had said, “It is a shameful thing that Nigeria has become a net importer of food. Nigeria has become a dumping ground for cheap food, and it is killing our people and the economy.

“About N1bn is spent every day to import rice. We also spend N240bn to import sugar, and N1.2tn annually on fish. With this, we are creating market for others.”

In view of this, the Federal Government had made known its intention to ban the importation of rice in order to promote the consumption of locally produced rice by 2015.

The minister said the Federal Government had evolved measures to ensure the nation’s food security would not be at risk.

Adesina said the country would by 2015 grow sufficient rice for local consumption.

According to him, part of the transformation plan of the Federal Government was to focus on the whole value chain in agriculture, adding that the government would also grow the seed sector in the country