Kwabena Gyimah-Brempong

The Nigerian Rice Economy: Policy Options for Transforming Production, Marketing, and Trade

Over the past few decades, rice has become one of the leading food staples in Nigeria, surpassing cassava in food expenditures. However, rice production has failed to keep up with the growth in consumption, resulting in a growing dependence on imports. As the most populous country in Africa south of the Sahara—one out of every five people in the region is a Nigerian—Nigeria has risen to become the leading importer of rice worldwide. In fact, by 2011, about half of the rice consumed in Nigeria was imported (Table 1). Moreover, given that a large amount of rice in Nigeria is now being consumed by low-income households, rice has become an important component of household food security.