Mr. Shinichi Kitaoka, the president of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), has said that it is an anomaly for Nigeria to still rely on the importation of rice despite its great potential in Agriculture.
He said this when he came for an inspection on some of the activities of JICA’s intervention in Nigeria.
In his words, “My first impression when I arrived here is that this is a very green country. Nigeria has a great potential in agriculture, it is quite strange that you are importing rice when you should be exporting especially with this weather.”
Despite the ban on the importation of rice by the Federal government, there is still no total restriction to the activities of smugglers in Nigeria.
About 24.992 metric tonnes of rice valued at N2.34 billion were imported between October 2015 and March 2017 before the embargo.
Speaking on the situation, Kitaoka restated his country’s willingness to assist Nigeria in the production of rice. “Japan has much advanced technology and I am hoping that we can do more in this area and in other activities,” he said.
