The quest for rice self-sufficiency in Nigeria received a major boost last week as dealers in the staple received tonnes of new brand of locally produced rice, Mama’s Pride, for sale in the country. The new entrant, from Olams Nigeria Limited, was unveiled to marketers in Lagos on Thursday, in a move to bridge the demand-supply gap in Nigeria.

The Business Head, Rice, Olams Nigeria Limited, Anil Nair, who performed the ceremonial launch, said this move is in line with government’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) to boost the agricultural sector.

“We are launching our rice into the Nigerian market. Although it has been in the market since July, we have had challenges in production; but we believe over time these challenges would be surmounted,” he said.

He said with Lagos being the biggest market in the country, Olams rice is a step in the right direction, to bridge the gap of importation.

“We have a milling capacity of about 800,000 tonnes and we believe in no distant time, with the help of the government and other key stakeholders in the rice industry, the nation will eliminate importation of rice completely,” he said.

Nair advised Nigerians to change their mind and choose locally produced rice, because is far more nutritious when compared to imported rice.

“The issue is a mindset thing. It is a practice of milling. If you have a state-of-the-art facility, you can extract stones and other particles in the rice. The quality of the soils and fertilizers in the country is very good for production,” he said.

According to him, the company has been into backward integration of rice since 2004 and there are thousands of outgrowers working with the company.

He added that, “Smuggling is also one of the biggest concerns that we have, because if you go round the Nigerian market, you will see a lot of smuggled rice. I believe the farmers and manufacturers are finding it difficult to compete with imported rice.

“Currently, we have supplied over 500 tonnes into Lagos in the last two weeks, any rice that comes into the market takes some time before customers starts accepting it, but we are taking the rice into all the markets possible and, hopefully, we believe more rice will enter the market.”

President, Rice Association of Nigeria, Esther Akinsanya, commended Olams for the launch, stressing that if the nation can produce rice of such quality, there is no need to embark on importation for the commodity.

In her words, “Nigeria can even start to export and the federal government must support companies like these to make the country self-reliant in rice production. Rice is an essential commodity and there is nobody that does not eat rice.”