According to Kabir Ibrahim, the president of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria, the landing cost of each bag of imported rice from India is $58.
Ibrahim claimed that the high exchange rate in the nation made local rice less expensive in a recent interview with the Punch in Lagos.”Using foreign exchange to purchase goods and transport them to Nigeria is not a competitive strategy. India is the country that produces the cheapest rice in the world; a 50 kg bag of rice costs $58 to land there.
Based on the current exchange rate, you can calculate that the landing cost per bag of rice to Lagos is more than N60,000.Ibrahim stated, “With local transportation and all that, you can not compete with what is sold in Nigeria when you start distributing.”Ibrahim, who also serves as the President of the Nigeria Agribusiness Group, continued by saying that purchasing maize domestically was less expensive than importing it from Brazil.
The cheapest corn available is Brazilian yellow corn. I was the Poultry Association President once. Due to the two-week travel time, we used to import maize from Brazil. It takes six weeks if you purchase from the United States of America.”You purchase from the nearest location, but the landing cost today makes it impossible for you to compete with the locally produced one,” he said.The claim that 70% of the cattle imported into Nigeria originated in the Niger Republic was refuted by the president of AFAN.
Recall that 70% of the livestock imported into Nigeria, according to Transborder Traders Association President Nasiru Salami, originated in the Niger Republic.Salami asserted that the majority of trade between Nigeria and other African nations was conducted through barter.
Ibrahim argued in response, saying, “I am into livestock.” That person who said that to you has no idea what they were talking about.Some cattle species are available from the Niger Republic. They have enormous horns and grow to be very large.However, if you are interested in raising poultry, I own a farm in Katsina that is located near the border.
The president of AFAN said, “I am aware that people travel from the Niger Republic to purchase eggs from us.He clarified that the majority of the animals killed in Lagos are not from the Niger Republic but rather from the northern region of the nation.
Ibrahim disclosed that the association was advocating for the use of wagons to transport the cattle.Ibrahim claimed, “They would be bringing them by rail so that they would not come tired and hungry and all that.
“Furthermore, Shaki Agbeyewa, the Deputy Chairman of the AFAN Lagos Chapter, declared, “It is more advisable to buy those products in Nigeria than to import them.”
Anything you purchase has a one-year cycle from the point of production on the farm to the point of consumption. It makes sense to carry it out in Nigeria.
The ones you purchase overseas can be used in Nigeria for up to three years; some may even have passed their expiration date. Because of the financial advantages, purchasing in Nigeria is preferable to importing, according to Agbeyewa.