Bag of rice likely to sell for N40,000 by December – Agric Minister

The Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural
Development, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, has said
that Nigeria spends about $22bn a year on
importation of food.

Lokpobiri made this known on
Saturday at a town hall meeting in Yenagoa,
Bayelsa State.

He said the development had led to the
astronomical rise in price of rice and other
commodities, stressing that if Nigerians failed to
produce some of the items being imported, before
December the price of rice would skyrocket to
N40,000 a bag...

He said there was a projection that by 2050,
Nigeria’s population would be 450 million,
wondering what would happen then if the people
could not feed themselves now.

Lokpobiri said, “For your information, we spend
about $22bn a year importing food into Nigeria.
We know how many more dollars … and that is
why you see the price of rice going up.
“Price of rice was N12,000 some months ago, but
it is now about N26,000 and if we don’t start
producing, by December it could be N40,000.