By Sulyman Jimoh
The Rice farmers association of Nigeria, the Kwara State chapter has resounded its commitment toward making rice to be available, affordable and accessible in Kwara state.
This was stated by Mallam Ahmed Saba, the Coordinator of Rice farmers association of Nigeria, Kwara state chapter, while speaking to Newsmen on Saturday at a book launching event held in Ilorin over the weekend.
In his statement, he said, “We rice farmers in Kwara have three aims that we want to achieve for rice production in the state, we want rice to be available, accessible and it must be affordable for all”.
Saba said that rice production in the state has really improved, he disclosed that that is due to the grant the farmers across the 16 local governments in Kwara state are getting from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“We have rice farmers in all the 16 local governments in Kwara state that are empowered with aids from Central Bank of Nigeria and that is what caused the large availability of rice in Kwara state and it is affordable and accessible.
“This is probably because of how we’re operating Now, a bag of rice in Kwara state is sold at the rate of #21,000 compared to what it’s being sold at Lagos and other places where it’s being sold for more than #24,000.
“This shows that it is more affordable here due to the large number of people involved in the farming rice in the state and I want the government to assist us better” ,Said the Rice farmers’ coordinator.
