…Though the zone remains the leading producer of broken rice (Ofada)
MSMEsToday has gathered from National Bureau of Statistics report on rice that Nigerian households in the South West pay more for the consumption of broken rice (Ofada) compared with other zones, even though the zone is the major producer of broken (Ofada) rice.
In recent years, local rice production has expanded significantly in Nigeria and is increasingly becoming an alternative to foreign rice with government’s initiative to make the country self-sufficient in rice production under its Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) and other policy initiatives now in place to address rice supply-demand gap. Among the local rice varieties, local (ofada) rice is peculiar to but not limited to South-West, Nigeria and has been gaining international recognition in recent time.
Ofada rice is a name for heritage varieties of rice grown in South-west Nigeria. It is used in a variety of dishes. Ofada rice are mostly blends, and some of the rice varieties in the blends are not indigenous to Africa; however, they usually also contain African rice. It is grown almost exclusively in Ogun State, a state in Southwestern Nigeria. It is named after the town Ofada in Ogun State.
According the finding from the NBS report, the average price of 1kg of Ofada rice in the South-west zone was N597.79 as at January 2021 compared to average price of N561.00 in the South-East, N515.84 in the South-South, N421.58 in the North-Central, N385.81 in the North-East and N341.49 in the North-West.
One would expect that the price of ofada rice should be cheaper in South-west zone being the leading zone in the production of broken rice (ofada) among the zones in Nigeria.
MSMEsToday finding shows that factors such demand which is higher than supply due to higher population in most of this states in south-west is responsible for high cost of ofada rice within the zone.
Some of the states producing Ofada rice in the South-west include Ogun state, Osun state, Ekiti state and Lagos state. Despite being a producing state, the domestic prices of Ofada rice is higher in these states. As at January 2021,1kg of broken rice (ofada) was sold for N851.49 in Lagos state, almost double the national average price of N465.64.
Similarly, Ogun state being the leading state in the production of broken rice (Ofada) with varieties such as ofada white, ofada red, ofada ewekoro, the price is also alarming compared to some states within the zone. As at January 2021, 1kg of ofada rice was sold for N632.58. At the same period, 1kg of ofada rice was sold for N637.5 in Oyo state, N575 in Ekiti state; N470.16 in Ondo state and N420 in Osun state.
Other states where the price of 1kg of Ofada rice was on the high side include Edo (N616.47), Ebonyi (N600.98); Bayelsa N605; and FCT (N609.79). On the other hand, Kano state recorded the lowest price. This implies that as at January 2021, 1kg of Ofada rice was sold for N312.97 in Kano state.
