The Federal Government, Wednesday, said it has plans to stop the importation of rice in the next two years.
It, however, stated that the policy would not be enforced until it had developed local industries to maximally produce for local consumption.
The plan was communicated to newsmen by Zamfara State Governor and Chairman of Nigerian Governors Forum, NGF, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari, after a meeting with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele and permanent secretaries of federal ministries at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Yari said with the emerging political will power of the present government and the availability of arable land, Nigeria can sustain itself with rice production.
He regretted that so much money had gone into rice importation, which he said could be produced locally.
Yari said: “The meeting was on the new policy on agriculture and food sustainability. We discussed how we can boost rice production in Nigeria and start thinking about how we are going to put policy in place on how rice importation will be banned.
“We have the potential, the human resources and arable land. In the next two years, we will ban rice importation.”
