Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi has assured that the state would work with farmers and millers under the Federal Government’ Anchor Borrower Programme to deliver local rice at a price of below N10,000 per bag.
The governor gave the assurances in Birnin Kebbi Sunday night at a dinner in honour of Nigeria’s Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed who was on a two-day working visit to the state with a view to assessing the state government’s agricultural revolution.
Commending President Buhari administration’s policy on rice, Bagudu called for more investments by the public and private sector, adding that the mobilisation of 70,000 farmers as well as the N11 billion spent on the pilot scheme, had yielded dividends and attracted national and global attention to the state.
Added to the two major rice milling factories – Labana and Walcot, which have N55 billion demands for rice paddy, he said, there were other small and medium scale millers sprang up in the state.
Bagudu also disclosed that the Dangote group was concluding plans to set up a rice milling factory in the state.
He said the partnership between Kebbi and Lagos states on rice value chain that produced the Lake rice had solved the challenge of glut by providing ready-made market for farmers.
The governor, who is the Chairman Presidential Task Force Committee on Rice and Wheat Production noted that the level of investment in the state had proved that agriculture is the easiest sector for diversification, adding that the huge investments had shown the confidence the investing community had in Buhari’s administration.
The minister said that Kebbi’s goal was to be a trailblazer in using the Anchor Borrowing Programme to transform the agriculture sector, adding that the programme aimed at food production, job creation, income generation and self sufficiency had been a tremendous success the state.
