The National Chairman of the Rice Millers Association of Nigeria, Peter Dama, has warned that the Federal Government’s import waiver on rice may have lowered prices for consumers but is forcing local millers out of business due to high production costs and the absence of agricultural subsidies.

Speaking on the impact of the import policy, Dama told Sunday PUNCH that while consumers, particularly in Lagos, were benefiting from lower rice prices, the policy was having devastating consequences for Nigeria’s rice milling industry.

He said, “This importation, Lagosians are saying that they are happy because of the waiver. They can now buy rice for N48,000 and N49,000, and they are happy because the waiver is working for them. The waiver is working for them but killing the industry in Nigeria. So you see, that is an issue, that is a problem.”

According to him, the challenge is compounded by the fact that countries exporting rice to Nigeria heavily subsidise their agricultural sectors, while Nigerian farmers receive little or no meaningful support.

“Because the government is importing, but the other countries are subsidizing their own agriculture. Nigeria is not subsidising anything. It’s not subsidizing agriculture. It’s only through word of mouth that we hear that agriculture is being subsidised. But the fact of the matter is that the subsidies are not there. India subsidized their farmers. China subsidized its farmers. Malaysia subsidized its rice farmers. Japan subsidized its rice farmers.

“And when these things are happening, they can produce. They have surplus. And because of the subsidies, they can export what they have because they produce more.”

Dama argued that the disparity in production costs leaves local millers unable to compete with imported rice, describing the situation as unsustainable.

“So for example, you use N10 to produce your rice, and then at the end of the day you go and sell your rice for N3. Is that a gain or are you just completely collapsing? So this is what is happening in Nigeria. There is a problem,” he said.

He further blamed rising labour costs for worsening the industry’s challenges, noting that expenses associated with processing and transporting rice had increased sharply.

“You produce at a higher rate. And you know, for example now, if you go and pick up a labourer, and tell them to come and work, let them be, you know, drying or washing, you know, your rice, your paddy. Every blessed day, they work, and they work based on hours. And they charge you, say for example, a day is N5,000. How can you cope?”

Giving another example, Dama said the cost of loading rice onto trucks had risen significantly. “Let me just also give you another small, simple example. Loading and offloading rice products in the truck. If you are going to send your rice, say, to Lagos or Kano, you need labourers to come and load it. Before, they were loading for you at N15 per bag.

“Today, a bag, they load for N500. And your truck is carrying 600 bags. Before it was N50, but today it’s N500 per bag to load. So you see all these cost implications are things that take prices up. And that is what is affecting the industry.”

He added that many rice millers had already shut down their operations because they could no longer compete with cheaper imported rice.

“And a lot of millers have closed shop. They are just watching because the imported one is cheaper than even the local producers. Because if you are producing locally, you want to depend on NEPA. You can’t break even. It’s not cheap at all. So you produce to make some little profit. You don’t produce to lose.”

In July 2024, the Federal Government approved a 150-day duty-free import window for selected food commodities, including husked brown rice, maize, wheat and beans, as part of measures to curb soaring food inflation and improve food availability.

The Nigeria Customs Service subsequently issued implementation guidelines granting a zero per cent import duty and associated levies on the affected commodities for qualified importers, with the government saying the policy was intended as a temporary intervention to reduce the cost of food across the country.

However, the policy has since evolved. In 2026, the Federal Government introduced broader fiscal and tariff reforms that reduced import duties on a range of agricultural products, including rice, rather than continuing the temporary zero-duty waiver. Under the new tariff regime, import duties on rice were lowered, but not eliminated as they were under the 2024 waiver.

All Farmers Association of Nigeria has referred to a “renewal of the import waiver” in discussing the continued influx of imported rice and its impact on local producers.