Rice Prices Skyrocket Again After Brief Reprieve.

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Nigerians are facing another round of price increases for rice, a staple food in the country. Just a few weeks ago, the price of rice had dropped to as low as N65,000-N67,000 per 50kg bag, but it has now shot up again to N75,000.

The imported long grain 50kg bag Thai rice, which was sold for as high as N100,000 during the Yuletide but came down to N88,000-N89,000 three weeks ago, is currently selling for as high as N92,000-N105,000, depending on the popularity of the brand.

Locally grown rice is also not immune to the price increase, with the price of 50 kg of bull rice selling for between N84,000 and N90,000, while the popular Abakaliki rice sells for N84,000 per 50 kg in Ebonyi and Enugu states and sells for over N90,000 in major cities outside the eastern part of Nigeria due to transportation costs.

According to Hajia Zannab Yahaya, a major rice dealer at the Iddo market in Lagos, “The price of rice crashes at the beginning of every year and steadily climbs up from the middle of February every year as the Ramadan season approaches.”

Hajia explained that the short respite experienced by Nigerians was an annual trend. “Everyone who follows the rice trend in Nigeria knows this. For about one month now, rice was cheap because there was little or no demand for it. Most people had bought bags of rice in December and still have rice stocked in their homes.

Kayode Ijesha, another rice dealer and an executive member of the market association, noted that the demand for rice will start going up as Ramadan and Easter celebrations approach. “As people run low on the ones bought in December, they will start coming back for more, hence the increase in the price.”

Regarding the effect of land borders on rice prices in Nigeria, Kayode dismissed the rumours. “If the land borders open, the price of imported rice will fall to as low as N50,000 per 50 kg of rice.”

Nigeria’s rice production has hit the lowest level in four years, according to data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Rice production declined by 7 percent in the 2024/2025 season to 5.23 million metric tonnes (MT) from 5.61 million MT in the 2023/2024 season.

Farmers say their rice revenues and profits are hard hit by rising input prices, insecurity, climate change, and the influx of cheaper foreign varieties. “Prices on all inputs have increased four or five times already, and they still keep rising,” said Muhammed Augie, former state chairman of the Rice Farmer Association, Kebbi State Chapter.

Augie explained that incentives to grow rice are no longer there. “Demand from millers has declined; there is no more federal government intervention, and the markets are flooded with cheaper imported rice products.”

Ahmed Idris, a rice grower in Jigawa, said he usually grows rice on five hectares of land but has reduced it to two hectares owing to his inability to afford inputs to cover his entire farmland. “The money I spent cultivating five hectares two or three years ago can only cultivate two hectares.”

The federal government suspended the Anchor Borrowers Programme, a key initiative targeted at boosting rice production, over fraud allegations and farmers’ failure to repay loans extended to them.

Millers are also hit by the shortfall in production and rising input costs, as prices of paddy surged by 100 percent to between N70,000 and N80,000 per 80 kg bag, depending on location and quality.

According to the Rice Millers Association of Nigeria (RIMAN), Nigeria needs 11 million metric tonnes of paddy to meet the current domestic consumption, but production stands at 4.6 million MT.

The association’s national chairman, Peter Dama, said, “A large number of millers have shut down operations owing to rising production costs.

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